Charlie Blackmon, two other Rockies players test positive for COVID-19, per report

Just minutes after MLB announced that it will indeed attempt to play a 2020 season, more sobering coronavirus news came to the forefront as the Denver Post’s Kyle Newman reported that Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon and pitchers Phillip Diehl and Ryan Castellani have tested positive for COVID-19 after working out at Coors Field. Newman writes that one of the players exhibited symptoms and that the stadium has been closed for the rest of the week in the wake of the mini-outbreak.

It feels inevitable that MLB players and staff members will continue to test positive for COVID-19 as the buildup to the season takes place — and, with MLB having a system that is significantly less “bubble-like” than those of the NBA, NHL, and MLS, very possibly after the season has started. It’s all a matter of how much the virus can be contained and whether the league’s safety protocols are strong enough for it to be spread across teams and between competitors. The league’s safety protocols need to be strong enough to keep the COVID-19 situation under control — and players and coaches need to be disciplined enough to follow them and exercise good judgment, as some of the Phillies who tested positive obviously didn’t — or otherwise it’s going to be tough to finish (or maybe even start) the 2020 season.