MLB forced to rejig schedule due to Marlins' outbreak
The Miami Marlins' COVID-19 outbreak is forcing Major League Baseball to change its season schedule.
The Marlins will be off through Sunday, the Philadelphia Phillies won't play until Friday, and the New York Yankees will hit the road to take on the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday and Thursday, the league announced Tuesday. Additionally, the Washington Nationals - who were supposed to head to Miami this weekend - will be off from Friday to Sunday.
Marlins CEO Derek Jeter also announced the team has moved to a "daily testing schedule" while it isolates and quarantines appropriately.
MLB said it'll announce additional rescheduling for next week in the coming days. The league added that there were no new positive tests - outside of the results for the Marlins - out of 6,400 tests conducted for on-field personnel since Friday.
Meanwhile, Miami-Dade County mayor Carlos A. Gimenez acknowledged Tuesday that the Marlins should quarantine for 14 days upon returning to South Florida due to the outbreak, according to Andy Slater of Fox Sports 640.
At least 17 members of the Marlins organization have now tested positive after the team played a three-game series against the Phillies this past weekend.
As a result, the league postponed Miami's first home series of the season against the Orioles, which was set to start Monday. Two scheduled contests between the Phillies and Yankees were also postponed.
Prior to MLB's announcement, Nationals players reportedly voted against going to Florida to play the Marlins.