Charlie Blackmon returned to Coors Field for Summer Camp this week after being quarantined after contracting COVID-19. We’re all happy to see him back, and Nick Groke of The Athletic details Blackmon’s experience with the virus.
‘I was blindsided’: Charlie Blackmon on his recovery and return from quarantine | The Athletic ($)
Blackmon had flu-like symptoms, but didn’t think it was actually COVID-19:
“I was blindsided by the positive result,” he said. “I knew I felt sick and as a precaution, I decided to get tested because I don’t want to be the person who infects other people. Honestly, I was not expecting to test positive.”
A big concern for teams right now is if one player gets sick, they need to self-quarantine for two weeks and in a six-week long season, that can really effect a lineup. That’s also assuming that the player tests negative for the virus after the two weeks of quarantine.
Nolan Arenado is a player that has made sure that the Rockies are staying focused on safety and staying healthy, but he’s confident that there will be a baseball season along with a World Series.
“Everybody has that little doubt,” he said, “but I feel very confident as long as we can continue getting better with testing and get (results) within 24 hours or quicker, I don’t know why we can’t play baseball this year.”
Please enjoy this reaction the Rockies tweeted on Tuesday to Blackmon being back:
CHARLIE BLACKMON!!! HE’S HERE!!! pic.twitter.com/MwjWoTFZKD
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 13, 2020
Report: About 10 MLB umpires opt out over coronavirus concerns | The Associated Press
As players continue to opt out (Giants catcher Buster Posey announced last week that he will sit out the 2020 season), MLB’s umpires also feel the risks of the virus in the shortened 2020 season.
In a report released by The Associated Press, there are 76 full-time major league umpires, and more than 22 of those umpires are age 55 or older — making them high risk to contract COVID-19.
Umpires that choose to opt out will still be paid for the 2020 season, and in a deal that was made during the shutdown, as long as one regular season game happens this year (which hopefully it does!) then umpires will receive 37.5 percent of their salaries.
With 10 major league umps choosing to opt out, this will give the minor league umps a shot at calling some big league games, so there’s some silver lining for those guys!
“It gives guys an opportunity,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Some younger guys are going to get to be major league umpires for a season. That’ll be fun.”
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