MLB on High Alert After Yankees Baseball Player Tests Positive for the Coronavirus

Clearly, no sport is safe from the dreaded coronavirus. After disrupting a variety of sports, like tennis, football, cricket, basketball and even motorsport, baseball is next on the hit list. As it turns out, Major League Baseball reported its first known case of the coronavirus, and the victim is a minor league player.

Apparently, the affected team is the New York Yankees and the victim is one of their minor league players. The anonymous player tested positive for the COVID-19, as per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Naturally, the baseball team has elected to place their players in quarantine

According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the players will receive food delivered in their hotel rooms. The good news is that none of the Yankees MLB players were in contact with the infected player, according to GM Brian Cashman.

The alarm bells rang when the victim opted to skip minor league camp because he ran a fever. Furthermore, the camp was closed, largely due to the pandemic.

What next for Major League Baseball?

However, it is noteworthy that once someone is diagnosed with COVID-19, the symptoms only show up after several days. According to the World Health Organization, the incubation period for COVID-19 is between one and 14 days, with the average being five days.

The player smartly decided to call the team as soon as he realized he had a fever. However, it is possible that he had contact with his teammates before he started showing symptoms. During that period, he could have exposed other players and they may need to be quarantined.

According to Jon Heyman, some Yankees minor leaguers will be tested for the coronavirus pandemic. The minor league camp is about a mile from major league camp. The player reportedly never visited major league camp. However, nobody is taking any chances