Yadier Molina among St. Louis Cardinals with COVID-19, but season could resume Friday
The St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday morning revealed the names of six of the team’s seven players who have tested positive for COVID-19 within the last week.
Catcher Yadier Molina, infielders Paul DeJong, Rangel Ravelo, and Edmundo Sosa, and pitchers Junior Fernández and Kodi Whitley consented to having their identities made public.
“I am saddened to have tested positive for COVID-19, even after adhering to safety guidelines that were put in place,” Molina said in a statement first posted to his Instagram account and later released by the team. “I will do everything within my power to return as soon as possible for Cardinals fans, the city of St. Louis and my teammates. As I recover, I request that you please respect my privacy and family in my absence from the team.”
“I am disappointed to share that I have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, even though I followed team protocols,” DeJong said. “I will approach my healing as I do all other things in my life – with education, commitment, and persistence. I look forward to re-joining the team soon and ask that you respect my privacy at this time.”
Those six players account for all but one of the seven who the team has confirmed thus far to have tested positive. Six additional staff members have recorded positive tests; communications director Brian Bartow confirmed to the media on Monday evening that he was one of the six via a text message which was later reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today, among others.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network reported that the Cardinals did not receive any new positive testing results on Tuesday morning. President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If the Cardinals indeed received a full slate of negative results on Tuesday, a repeat of those results on Wednesday would allow the team to leave the Milwaukee hotel in which they have been isolated since late Thursday night. The plan remains to resume the season at home, on Friday, in the scheduled matchup with the Chicago Cubs.
Before being allowed to rejoin the team, any player who is confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 must go seven days before being re-tested and then show two negative results in tests taken more than 24 hours apart. They must also undergo a cardiology exam to detect any resultant issues such as the myocarditis which has sidelined Boston pitcher Eduardo Rodríguez.
It is as of yet unclear on which day which players tested positive and which of the players are showing symptoms. Mozeliak said Monday that five of the 13 individuals with positive tests were asymptomatic and the other eight had, to date, suffered only minor symptoms such as headaches and coughs.
Asked about the scope of the virus’s spread through the team, Mozeliak said Monday that he was “not overly surprised after we did the tracing on the original people that had it, and the contacts that were made —it’s all pretty logical, actually.”
Whitley pitched in relief last Wednesday night in Minnesota, and Molina was the catcher for his outing. MLB’s protocols call for special care to be taken regarding the usage of baseballs and equipment, as they represent touch points which may spread the virus. DeJong was at shortstop for the 1 ⅔ innings which Whitley pitched, though he was not involved in the play in any of the five plate appearances against the righthander.
Ravelo appeared in Wednesday’s game as the designated hitter, going 0-for-2. Fernández and Sosa did not appear in either game in Minnesota, though all six players were with the team for the duration of the road trip and Mozeliak said Monday that he believed the team’s infection began in St. Louis, prior to traveling.
From a competitive standpoint, the Cardinals find themselves most seriously compromised at shortstop, where DeJong is the everyday starter and was an All-Star in 2019. Sosa, himself primarily a shortstop, is considered a strong glove and an emerging bat. It’s likely that Tommy Edman and Brad Miller will, for the time being, take over the position.
Molina, too, is a hard-to-replace stalwart in the team’s lineup, though Matt Wieters is an experienced catcher who has been an All-Star himself and Andrew Knizner is one of the team’s top prospects. Whitley has been one of the clubs most emergent pitchers in the early going, and innings have been scarce for Fernández after he struggled with control in Summer Camp.
MLB rosters are set to reduce from 30 players to 28 on Thursday, though the league and its Players Association have been negotiating for more than a week to extend 30-man rosters for the duration of the season. The Cardinals plan to recall both players and staff from their alternate training site in Springfield, Mo. to meet the team when they return to St. Louis.
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 12:09 PM.
