An outbreak of Covid-19 rocked Major League Baseball on Monday, forcing the postponement of two games less than a week after the sport launched its season following a four-month coronavirus delay.
Major League Baseball confirmed in a statement that games between the Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles in Florida, and the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees in Pennsylvania, had been scrapped.
The decision followed reports that 10 more members of the Marlins — eight players and two coaches — had tested positive for the coronavirus following Sunday’s game against the Phillies in Philadelphia.
Four Marlins players — pitcher Jose Urena, first baseman Garrett Cooper, outfielder Harold Ramirez and catcher Jorge Alfaro — had already tested positive for Covid-19.
Major League Baseball said in a statement the games had been postponed in order to allow for additional testing.
“The members of the Marlins’ travelling party are self-quarantining in place while awaiting the outcome of those results,” the MLB statement said.
The Yankees were due to use the same locker room at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park that the Marlins had used over the weekend.
Marlins chief executive Derek Jeter said postponing Monday’s game in Florida was the “correct decision.” 
“The health of our players and staff has been and will continue to be our primary focus as we navigate through these uncharted waters,” Jeter said.
“Postponing tonight’s home opener was the correct decision to ensure we take a collective pause and try to properly grasp the totality of this situation.”
Jeter said the Marlins had remained in Philadelphia to undergo further testing.
Major League Baseball’s commissioner Rob Manfred meanwhile was reportedly holding an emergency meeting to discuss the outbreak.
 
Player concern 
Yesterday’s postponed games came with Major League Baseball less than a week into its abbreviated 2020 season.
The season finally got under way last Thursday four months after it had been due to open in March. Games are taking place without fans, while players are subject to a range of strict health and safety protocols designed to prevent outbreaks of Covid-19.
Players are tested for the disease every 48 hours, while masks will be mandatory for all players not on the field of play.
Unlike other sports leagues, such as Major League Soccer and the NBA, which are restarting their seasons with all the teams based at a single location, baseball has opted to leave clubs at their home ballparks, meaning they must travel throughout the United States during the season.
That decision has been criticised as risky by health experts as swathes of the US are battling skyrocketing coronavirus cases.
Several star players had also expressed misgivings about attempting to start the season while the pandemic raged, with some opting out of the 2020 season altogether. Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher David Price was among those who elected to skip the season citing concerns over safety protocols.
Yesterday, Price said the Marlins outbreak would be a test of MLB’s commitment to player safety. “Now we REALLY get to see if MLB is going to put players health first,” Price wrote on Twitter. 
“Remember when Manfred said players health was PARAMOUNT?! Part of the reason I’m at home right now is because players health wasn’t being put first.


Ohtani shelled in 
Oakland 
Meanwhile, Japanese two-way player Shohei Ohtani would like to forget his return to the mound Sunday after the Los Angeles Angels sensation failed to record an out in his 2020 pitching debut. Ohtani, who pitched for the first time in 20 months, raised alarms about his ability to play two positions this season by giving up three singles and walking three batters in a 6-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics.
“He just didn’t throw the ball very well,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “I can’t sit here and make excuses for him. I’m not gonna do that. The fastball wasn’t coming out, there was no deception in his pitches.”
Ohtani said he felt ready to play and he needs to throw more pitches in a competitive atmosphere.
“I just have to get that feel for the game back,” Ohtani said. “Today I just felt like I was throwing the ball rather than pitching.” Restricted to a designated hitter role last season, Ohtani belted 18 home runs with a batting average of .286.
Ohtani was the 2018 American League Rookie of the Year after batting .285 with 22 home runs, 10 stolen bases and 61 runs batted in plus a 4-2 record in 10 pitching starts with a 3.31 earned-run average and 63 strikeouts.
Babe Ruth, a legend from a century ago, was the only other player who managed 10 pitching appearances and 20 homers in an MLB season.
Mitch Keller also pitched five solid innings, and manager Derek Shelton engaged in American baseball’s first socially distanced argument with an umpire as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat St. Louis 5-1 on Sunday.
In the third inning, Shelton donned his face mask and left the dugout to argue with Jordan Baker after the plate umpire threw Pirates pitcher Derek Holland out of the game for arguing balls and strikes.