Coronavirus testing immediately hits Atlanta Braves hard

Think you can’t catch this bug? The Atlanta Braves biggest star has it.

MLB has adopted an almost comical stance when dealing with COVID-19 test results.  The Atlanta Braves have recognized the folly of this and their players have chosen to ignore the sham privacy considerations and share their positive tests with fans.

While MLB has rightly established a special Injured List for players having this nasty virus, teams were told not to acknowledge that any player had been added to this list.

Naturally, reporters have been counting noses and asking the whereabouts of certain players, which has led to eye-rolling answers like this:

The Atlanta Braves have not taken this route, and these players gave their permission to manager Brian Snitker to report their conditions… and one of these matters more than the others:

• Freddie Freeman
• Will Smith
• Pete Kozma
• Touki Toussaint

Smith and Toussaint are said to be asymptomatic; Freeman and Kozma are not so fortunate.

Freeman’s wife Chelsea, in fact, has publicly noted that this has hit her husband “like a ton of bricks” despite their concerted efforts to stay safe.

Just 2 weeks ago, she tweeted pictures of a very healthy-looking family on Father’s Day.  Today… not as much.

MLB has reported 31 player positive tests (along with 7 staff members) across all of major league baseball as teams and personnel have reported to camp this week.  That count was released on Friday, but if these numbers are accurate (and there are reasons to believe otherwise), then the Atlanta Braves must certainly have been the single hardest-hit team of all.

Braves Plan B?

The schedule (still unreleased at this point) for this abbreviated 2020 season is set to begin on July 24th for most clubs… less than 3 weeks away.

From this report, Will Smith is likely going to be able to rejoin camp within the next week, though that puts him behind the curve in his throwing program.  Still, the Braves can likely adjust to this loss given their very deep bullpen.

But Freeman?  That’s an issue.  While the oft-reported 14 days may or may not be applicable for his recovery, he clearly won’t be able to go through any baseball activities until recovering and then getting virus-free.

After that, he can finally start ramping up, but at that point, the ‘regular’ season schedule may very well be upon us.  So what do the Atlanta Braves do?

• Austin Riley may get serious reps at first base.
• Yonder Alonso suddenly becomes a serious possible option
• Other fallout includes an outfield featuring Adam Duvall, Ender Inciarte, and Ronald Acuna Jr. from L-to-R, Johan Camargo at third base, and Marcell Ozuna as the DH.

That’s strong… but it’s obviously not Freddie Freeman strong.

It’s still early in the process, and the hope — first and foremost — is that we can see these players all return to full health.  Along the way, it’s clearly also a sobering reminder about how easily and quickly things can change… even if you think you’re doing all of the right things.

In baseball terms, though, this is a blow to the Braves:  this leaves little room for additional positive cases down to the road without impacting this team even more significantly.