Houston Astros without 8 pitchers due to COVID-19 protocols
The Houston Astros are without eight pitchers at their spring training camp after they were sent home due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols, but general manager James Click said there were no plans to pause activity at the team's spring training camp..
Manager Dusty Baker said Friday that pitchers Cristian Javier, Pedro Baez, Francis Martes, Enoli Paredes and Hector Velazquez were out. On Thursday, Baker said pitchers Bryan Abreu, Ronel Blanco and Luis Garcia were sent away from the complex.
It was not known whether the eight pitchers had tested positive for the virus or had come in close contact with someone who had tested positive. There was no exact timetable for their return, but they must quarantine for at least a week under Major League Baseball's health and safety protocols.
"Part of the reason that so many players are away from camp for health and safety (protocols) is because we want to cast a wide net," Click told reporters. "And the protocols cast a wide net to make sure if there are delays between contagious stages and positive test results that those don't lead to an outbreak.
"We are following Major League Baseball's health and safety protocols, and this is what they call for. We and the league believe that, by following them, we will ensure the rest of the guys are not exposed and we can continue to get ready for the season."
The Astros had a seven-inning game against the Marlins and a five-inning "B game" against the Cardinals on Friday.
Click said the team had a plan in place to permit the players to continue their work, albeit away from the club complex. As for pitching plans in the upcoming week, Baker said it was a matter of "adjust and readjust.''
"We've just got to find a way to work around it and find a solution," Baker told reporters. "We're missing quite a few arms now. We're concerned, but fortunately we had more pitchers than we knew what to do with when we opened camp."
Nineteen big league players and six staff have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of spring training, a positive rate of 0.07% among 34,541 tests.
Nineteen big league players and six staff have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of spring training, a positive rate of 0.07% among 34,541 tests.
Sixteen of the 30 teams have had an individual test positive, the commissioner's office and players' association said Friday.
None of the 81 intake tests in the past week were positive, leaving 12 players and three staff positive among 5,317 intake tests thus far, a 0.03% positive rate.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
