Nationals lost five players after positive Covid test

On the eve of opening day, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters his club had a positive Covid-19 test that will impact the opening day roster (Twitter connections via Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com). One player tested positive, according to Rizzo, but four other players and a staff member were seen as close contacts requiring quarantine. Rizzo has made it clear that the Nationals plan to play tomorrow night.

The five players – who have not yet been named – will be inactive for the opening day. The positive test was taken on March 29 and the Nats learned of the result this morning. The positive player and the five people in close contact were all on a charter flight together this week, necessitating the quarantine.

Under this year’s updated health and safety guidelines, which were agreed to by the MLB and the Players’ Association in early February, players who test positive “will be required to self-isolate for at least 10 days, receive appropriate care and supervision from club medical staff, and be cleared by the individual’s joint committee and team physician, after a mandatory cardiac assessment and determination that the individual does not present more risk of infection for others.

Under those same guidelines, individuals who have been identified as being in close contact with a confirmed positive “will be subject to a mandatory seven-day quarantine and will be required to test negative on day 5 or later, among other requirements to join. Club facilities. ”

It’s unclear at the moment which players are affected by the positive test, but Rizzo acknowledged that the Nationals will “definitely” need to make some roster moves before tomorrow’s game (Twitter link via Athletic’s Britt Ghiroli).

Players can be placed on the Covid-19 injured list with no minimum time required, and those on the Covid-19 list do not count towards a team’s 40-player roster. Replacement players can also be temporarily added to the active list of the Major League, “without the need for these players to be derogated, excluded or optional in order to be removed from the list of 40 players when the players are returning from Covid-19. Injured List ”, according to updated 2021 MLB protocols.