Red Sox confirm hurler Rodriguez among COVID-19 positive players

LOS ANGELES — Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is among the team’s latest players to test positive for coronavirus, manager Ron Roenicke confirmed on Tuesday.

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 29: Eduardo Rodriguez #57 of the Boston Red Sox delivers a pitch against the New York Yankees during the second inning of a Grapefruit League spring training game at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 29, 2020 in Fort Myers, Florida. Michael Reaves/Getty Images/AFP

Roenicke told reporters on a Zoom conference that Rodriguez and infield prospect Bobby Dalbec had both tested positive, the third and fourth Red Sox players to do so after Josh Taylor and Darwinzon Hernandez.

Roenicke said both Rodriguez and Dalbec had been kept away from the Major League Baseball workouts at Fenway Park as they awaited their test results.

Rodriguez had suffered some symptoms but is improving Roenicke said, but it’s not clear if he’ll be able to pitch Boston’s July 24 opener at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles.

“He wants to be ready for that opening day, but we’ll have to see how it goes,” Roenicke said. “The medical team will follow him, will give him instructions basically on how to stay in shape.

“It just depends on how long this thing goes, when we can get the negative test from him and when he can come up and join us.”

Rodriguez is coming off a career-year with the Red Sox.

The 27-year-old left-hander went 19-6 with a 3.81 earned-run average last season.

“Eddie’s still on me about being ready for opening day, so we’ll see what happens there,” Roenicke said.

The Kansas City Royals announced that right-handed hurler Brad Keller and first baseman Ryan O’Hearn have tested positive for COVID-19, and gave the team permission to announce the results.

Keller said in a statement he was “devastated” when a second coronavirus test confirmed his positive result.

“I got the word today that the second test also came back positive and I have to go into isolation,” he said. “I am experiencing minor symptoms that remind me more of an allergy attack.”

Major league teams are training at home in preparation for a delayed July 23 start to the season after the coronavirus pandemic scuppered the scheduled March start.

Although MLB has promised strict protocols, not all has gone smoothly.

The San Francisco Giants became the latest team to temporarily call off training on Tuesday pending coronavirus test results.

Manager Gabe Kapler told the San Jose Mercury News that Giants players, coaches and staffers who were tested for COVID-19 on Saturday had not yet received results before Tuesday’s practice was set to begin.

He said he expected the results to arrive later in the day, but the team decided at noon to cancel team activities.

“I just maintain a level of empathy for everybody that’s working really hard to get our camp up and running, but also across the league and for all the clubs that are working really hard to put their clubs in a position to have success,” Kapler said.

The Washington Nationals, Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals canceled workouts on Monday after tardy test result.

MLB blamed the issue on the July 4 US Independence Day holiday, and said Monday that such delays “should not happen again.”

‘That’s where we’re at’

The World Series champion Nationals reportedly resumed training on Tuesday after results from coronavirus tests performed on Friday came back with no new negatives.

But the Chicago Cubs delayed the start of training Tuesday so they could complete all of their scheduled testing, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The delay came a day after slugger Kris Bryant and other players expressed concerns about a lack of frequency in testing.

Despite the hiccups, Cubs manager David Ross said he didn’t yet know of any Cubs players who were likely to opt out of the shortened season.

“Do I have any concerns of them opting out? No, but that could change within a day,” Ross said. “That’s where we’re at in the world, and in the world of baseball.”