Miami Marlins Home-Opener Canceled as 14 Members Test Positive for Coronavirus

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Twelve players and two coaches of the Miami Marlins organization have reportedly tested positive for Covid-19, prompting the team to cancel its first game at Marlins Park against the Baltimore Orioles, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The canceled trip home leaves the Marlins stuck in Philadelphia, where the team just finished a three-game series, winning two of three.

The new tally of Covid-19 cases included 10 new positives on Monday — eight players and two coaches — bringing its total to 14 over the last two days. On Sunday, four players were initially Covid-19 positive, including the team’s starting pitcher Jose Urena, per Passan. Marlins manager Don Mattingly said the Marlins “never really considered not playing” on Sunday after the new cases, but they still played and defeated the Phillies, 11-6.

It’s unclear how long the Marlins will avoid playing games in the league’s shortened 60-game season, but other teams, like the Washington Nationals, have continued playing games despite members of their clubhouse testing positive.

Most MLB teams are three games into the league’s 2020 season. Unlike the NBA, teams aren’t placed in a bubble but are regularly tested. While the NBA has eliminated Covid-19 from its bubble for now, more than half of MLB teams have dealt with Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the league’s exhibition games two weeks ago. Its prompted several high-profile players — like David Price and Ryan Zimmerman — to sit out the season.