Mets vs Nationals opening day game postponed due to COVID-19 concerns

Thursday night’s opener between the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals has been postponed, the MLB has announced. The Nationals were scheduled to start the season without multiple players due to a positive COVID-19 test and contact tracing, and MLB says there is “an ongoing contact tracing involving members of the Nationals “.

MLB hasn’t announced a makeup date other than to say the game won’t be caught up on Friday night. Last season, MLB postponed several games while sorting out COVID-19 issues and it’s possible the Mets and Nationals won’t play their season opener this weekend. Thursday’s game was set to feature the best opening-day pitching game: Jacob deGrom vs. Max Scherzer.

Because it’s so early in the season and the Mets and Nationals are division rivals with five head-to-head series remaining after this weekend, it’ll be pretty easy to schedule makeup matches. The MLB will once again play seven-innings in doubles this year.

According to league protocols, the identity of the Nationals player who tested positive and those quarantined has not been announced, although the club recalled wide receiver Tres Barrera on Wednesday. This suggests that starting receiver Yan Gomes or substitute Alex Avila are part of the COVID-19 protocols.

Last year, the Cardinals and Marlins were implicated in MLB’s two largest COVID-19 outbreaks. Both teams were shut down for around two weeks with double-digit players and staff testing positive in the first few weeks of the abridged 2020 season. The final weeks of the regular season and playoffs went well, and then Justin Turner tested positive in Game 6 of the World Series.

The Red Sox and Orioles were postponed due to bad weather on Thursday. The remaining 13 games of the opening day are currently scheduled to be played smoothly.