Mariners report 3 positive COVID-19 cases from initial intake tests
The Seattle Mariners reported three positive cases of COVID-19 from their initial intake testing Wednesday.
According to club officials, the Mariners completed 122 intake tests of Tier 1 and Tier 2 individuals — including players, the manager and general manager, coaches and other staff — by July 1.
The Mariners held their first official team workout at T-Mobile Park on Friday.
In a joint release Friday, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players’ Association reported the total number of positive tests from the 30 clubs prior to workouts beginning was 38, or 1.2% of the 3,185 samples collected.
Players accounted for 31 of those positive tests, and there were 19 clubs with at least one positive test.
More positive tests have been reported around the league since, and testing delays caused some teams to cancel workouts, but the Mariners have not been significantly impacted at this stage.
“We have been very fortunate in the fact that, to this point, we are particularly healthy,” Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said Wednesday. “We’re obviously not completely healthy, which is consistent with the 30 teams in the league, but we’re very encouraged by what this means for the Mariners, and just trying to familiarize ourselves with how to make sure that remains the case as best we can.”
The three individuals who tested positive in Seattle — the Mariners did not specify whether or not the individuals were players — are asymptomatic, quarantined and following the health and safety protocols set by MLB and King County.
They must have two consecutive negative tests before beginning the process of reapplying to return to the ballpark.
Dipoto said he is pleased with how promptly Seattle’s players arrived to camp, how quickly the club finished intake testing, and how the staff has organized workouts.
“The entire group (has) done a phenomenal job of setting up a daily work schedule that keeps the players from being exposed to big groups for any long period of time,” Dipoto said. “We get them in and out and in (about) five hours a day.”
While players, coaches and staff continue to adjust to the protocols, Dipoto has been encouraged by how everyone is taking their own health and safety, and the health and safety of others, seriously each day.
“I haven’t seen anybody drop the ball yet,” he said. “ ... Most of the guys, when they’re on the field, unless they’re doing something particularly taxing from a cardio standpoint, they’re all wearing their masks, even ... taking infield or in the early stages of batting practice. Not until you get to the point where you’re exerting yourself are they taking the masks off, generally. The staff, they’re hitting on it 100% of the time.
“It’s been remarkable to see how easily our group has adapted to a series of protocols that is fairly extensive. ... The fact that we are healthy and everybody came in in good baseball shape and ready to go is ... a pleasant development that gives us less to be concerned with in a time where, obviously, you have a heightened awareness of every single player, their health situation, both physical and medical.”
This story was originally published July 8, 2020 at 3:39 PM.
