The coaching staff was pleasantly surprised, players were in better shape than they anticipated. It has been nearly four months since spring training was shut down, so this is great news. With a limited amount of time for players to ready themselves for the season, Bud Black was happy with what him and the rest of the coaching staff saw.
The players are also relatively healthy as it relates to COVID-19. Three players had previously tested positive and only one, Charlie Blackmon, will miss any of the workouts. Philip Diehl and Ryan Castellani were both present for workouts. (Get well, Charlie!)
Braves coach Eric Young Sr. opts out of 2020 season | AJC
As summer camp is ramping up for teams all across the country, we will keep seeing more players and coaches opting out. This is inevitable, and probably a tough decision to make. They can opt out if they fall into the category of high-risk for COVID-19 or for other reasons. Eric Young Sr., first base coach for the Atlanta Braves, falls into the high-risk category and has chosen to opt out. We don’t know why he is categorized as high-risk, but ultimately, we don’t need to. He will be replaced by minor-league coach DeMarlo Hale for the season.
6 players looking to bounce back in 2020 | MLB.com
Kyle Freeland is one of the six. After an impressive 2018 campaign, 2019 was a massive decline for the beloved Denver native. In 2018 he went 17-7 with a 2.85 ERA, and was in the Cy Young Award conversation. In 2019, he went 3-11 with a 6.73 ERA, and spent time in Triple-A Albuquerque and his starts there were not pretty. As a fan, and a Colorado native myself, I am rooting for a big comeback for Kyle.
Arenado: ‘An amazing feeling’ to be back playing | MLB.com
We missed baseball. We missed seeing our favorite players in purple. Nolan Arenado missed it too.
“It’s an amazing feeling. It’s always been a great feeling but especially after what’s going on in our country, it feels even better,” Arenado said Sunday. “Putting pants on ... hitting pearls ... it’s awesome.”
Nolan also touched on a few other subjects like health concerns, the Bridich feud, his endurance for a 60-game season and the Rockies chances for the 2020 season.
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Did anyone else miss Nolan as much as I did? Look at that smile.
Hey. Here’s the content you’ve been waiting for all day.#NolanBeingNolan pic.twitter.com/JWlj6TACif
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 5, 2020
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