then coronavirus happened, 2020 baseball

really can't stand the guy but props

would like to see a lot more of it before the season ends next week tbh

i don't know if he's changed since his cardinal days, but back then he was known as lighthearted funnyman joe kelly, a pitcher with great velocity and mediocre results, but who also would dance in the dugout and make jokes. i haven't seen him act like that before, is that something he does a lot now? maybe he's roided up

There is a reliever on the Rockies whose name is I shit you not: Carlos Estévez

How is his nickname not "Wild Thing"?

too much pitchability

xxp yeah he was kind of a douchey antagonist in the A.L.

Joe West pic.twitter.com/1RCCROL74r

— Second Ave. Sagas (@2AvSagas) July 30, 2020

Another Marlins player has tested positive for COVID-19, but the team anticipated this result from its contact tracing, a source tells The Athletic. Latest positive case brings team totals to 17 players and two coaches, though one of the coaches has since tested negative.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 30, 2020

oh well!

The shocking news here is they know what contact tracing is!

welp

The Phillies have canceled all workouts today at Citizens Bank Park after a coach and home clubhouse staffer tested COVID-19 positive.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) July 30, 2020

When Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, the #Raptors, who had played Utah two days earlier, self-isolated for 14 days. MLB plan was for #Phillies to play vs #BlueJays five days clear of exposure to #Marlins.

— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) July 30, 2020

jays will *not* be playing in philly this weekend, according to charlie montoyo

everyone, including the marlins, passed on foltynewicz, who is now at the braves' alternate camp

harsh

just doing some lat pull stretches with my theraband here

Brian Dozier, the newest Met, referred to his brief experience with the Padres as a “debacle.” Asked to elaborate, he said, “I’m a big transparency guy. I like people to be honest with me. That wasn’t the case over there. I had to get out of there. I’ll leave it at that.”

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 30, 2020

y'all ready for seven-inning doubleheaders

7-inning games sound like a good way to let Edwin Diaz rot

bring on the 7-inning games full stop. they can’t figure out how to shorten the fucking things any other way. we’d see more complete games too which would be exciting!

cardinals have positive test(s); game in milwaukee tonight postponed

cards just came from minnesota and hosted the pirates before that

they gotta pull the plug

uuuuuuuugh

i mean who could have predicted this would happen, though

9:35am: SportsGrid’s Craig Mish tweets that two Cardinals players have tested positive so far.

9:25am: The Athletic’s Mark Saxon reports that if the remainder of the Cardinals’ roster tests negative, the series against the Brewers could still begin tomorrow. It remains unclear how many players and/or staff members on the club have tested positive, however.

what the fuck is wrong with everyone

is it not an extremely well known fact that people don't test positive until 2-3 days after infection

my condolences, KM...I know we argue about a lot of baseball stuff, but I think we can both agree that this should've happened to the Cubs instead

the way things are going, seems like it'll happen to the cubs at some point! sad lol

who knew david eckstein was still playing

A prominent #Cardinals player informs me he wants to play tomorrow. “Can’t let this all crumble.”

— Mark Saxon (@markasaxon) July 31, 2020

i just hope that when the team's health advisor, moral compass, and logistics lead are asked to make a decision about whether to keep playing, yadier molina makes the right call

9:25am: The Athletic’s Mark Saxon reports that if the remainder of the Cardinals’ roster tests negative, the series against the Brewers could still begin tomorrow. It remains unclear how many players and/or staff members on the club have tested positive, however.

so you've wargamed the 'if everything goes absolutely perfectly' scenario. okay

no worries everyone, we can play 2 on sunday

mlb:
"Today’s scheduled game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park has been rescheduled as part of a traditional doubleheader on Sunday, August 2nd at 1:10 p.m. (CT). The rescheduling as a result of two positive COVID-19 tests in the Cardinals’ organization is consistent with protocols to allow enough time for additional testing and contact tracing to be conducted."

ac-cen-tchu-ate the positive (tests)

Remember, fans don’t actually like baseball players. They just like their work product. https://t.co/zXf1vfuRDJ

— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) July 31, 2020

wow, multiple industries

11:55am: The Cardinals issued a statement that the two tests which came back positive were performed Wednesday prior to their game with the Twins at Target Field in Minneapolis. The Cardinals have not been to Miller Park yet. That statement carries particular significance for the Twins and for the Indians, who used Target Field’s visiting clubhouse last night.

as i watching that last game with the twins, i knew i might be watching the last cardinals game of the year. it is so surreal to hear a baseball announcer talk about how safe the team is being, the "overabundance of caution", while at the same time the camera shows a bunch of sweaty players in the same dugout with no masks on

it’s a microcosm of the entire us response. only plan for best-case scenario, divert risk onto the federated interests, ignore every warning sign because there might be money on the table, treat the workers like interchangeable chess pieces

it's a real testament to the power of sports mythology that nick markakis just opted *in* to this shitshow

btw

............................... https://t.co/rLTvg0Xo6b pic.twitter.com/ebc4zxMjz1

— Emma Baccellieri (@emmabaccellieri) July 31, 2020

i mean, half these dudes are pointing up at god after hitting a home run. magical thinking is the default

white sox are calling up 2B nick madrigal, who in 163 minor league games/705 plate appearances has hit .309 while striking out 21 times

he perhaps lacks the sheer charisma of Our Willians, but remains intersting

https://freshcomics.s3.amazonaws.com/issue_covers/AUG161700.jpg

half these dudes are pointing up at god after hitting a home run

Brandon Nimmo does this after he gets hit by a pitch

seven-inning doubleheaders are now official; looking forward to everyone losing their shit when there's a no-hitter

wow, 14 innings instead of 18. that's almost 23% safer!!!

how many players need to be sick before a game is cancelled? well, it depends. if it's just one or two, you can play in two days. if it's 17, though, you're gonna have to wait a week. socially distant shade areas have also been constructed up and down the first and third base lines in the stands, so that we can imagine what it would look if players utilized them instead of sweating on each other in the dugout. the level of caution: abundant

and now for the hyundai coronavirus death update, we go to jimmy the cat hayes, stationed in a room without windows in an disclosed complex with 2009-era wi-fi

*puts on very online voice*

If I wuz a player i'd be sitting in the stands

'we'

The conversation between Manfred and Clark was not a threat but a reality check that was relayed to players -- and has spread quickly among them: We -- all of us -- need to clean this up, because if we don't, Major League Baseball in 2020 is going to be over.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2020

It's fair for Manfred to raise the specter of the season being called off. In doing so, he underlines that the risks and responsibilities of avoiding the virus are borne not by the owners, but by the players. The ones who accepted one pay cut and were browbeaten about another.

— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) July 31, 2020

the players are just a fraction of the people involved

each team has what, 60-70 personnel, flying all over the place? it's not the players' fault. what you're trying to do is inherently risky.

that entire crane interview is absolutely depraved

yeah. i don't think manfred actually has the authority to do anything to jim crane, but i'm sure it was made clear that it's in everyone's best interests that he simply shut the fuck up for the foreseeable future. billionaires, what can you do

also brandon taubman is in his mid 30s

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDT_i43BZ0k/?igshid=h9cw3b1yk3k6