Indians player reportedly threatened to leave the team if teammates who snuck out and violated COVID-19 rules were not banished
- Cleveland Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac broke team COVID-19 protocols by going out during a road trip in Chicago.
- According to ESPN, Indians players "castigated" the two pitchers in a team meeting for being untruthful about their actions and potentially exposing teammates to COVID-19.
- Several players threatened to sit out the season if Clevinger and Plesac were kept on the active roster, and the Indians demoted both to the team's "alternate training site."
According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, at least one Cleveland Indians player threatened to sit out if pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac were kept on the active roster after breaking team COVID-19 protocols and being untruthful about their actions.
Passan reported that Indians reliever Oliver Perez threatened to leave the team and others felt similarly if Clevinger and Plesac were kept on the active roster. The Indians demoted Clevinger and Plesac to the team's "alternate training site" as a result.
Plesac and Clevinger left the team hotel during a trip to Chicago on August 7. Plesac was caught returning to the hotel and was sent home on August 8. However, Clevinger did not admit to being involved and later boarded the team plane with the rest of the team, potentially exposing players to COVID-19. Both players later tested negative, but the threat of exposing the team rankled players, according to Passan.
The demotions could affect their service time in MLB, potentially altering future contract negotiations, according to Passan.
Plesac posted a video to Instagram last week in which he apologized and explained his actions. However, he also defended his actions, saying he and Clevinger only met with a small group of people for dinner and that "You can't sit in a room all day, that's the truth of the matter." He also criticized the media's coverage of the incident.
According to Passan, the Instagram video bothered some teammates.
Indians pitcher Adam Plutko told reporters that both Plesac and Clevinger "hurt" the team by lying and that they would need to make it up to them to regain their trust.
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