Braves vs. Nationals Monday Game Postponed Amid Washington's COVID-19 Issues

The Washington Nationals will have to wait a bit longer to start their 2021 season.

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Washington's scheduled game against the Atlanta Braves for Monday was postponed. The Nationals announced the plan is for the two National League East teams to face each other Tuesday, which would be Washington's first game of the year as it deals with COVID-19 issues.

The Nationals' season-opening series against the New York Mets was postponed.

Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reported earlier Sunday that there were 11 unavailable players for the Nationals because of four players in isolation due to positive tests and seven players in quarantine. What's more, two staff members were in quarantine.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was unsure if the entire series against the Braves, which was scheduled to run Monday through Wednesday, would be played.

Rizzo also told reporters a "majority" of the unavailable players would have made the 26-man Opening Day roster.

MLB's health and safety protocols for the 2021 season state that "individuals who test positive will be required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days, receive appropriate care and monitoring from the Club medical staff, and be cleared by the Joint Committee and the individual’s team physician, following a mandatory cardiac evaluation and a determination that the individual no longer presents a risk of infection to others."

The Nationals are looking to bounce back from a 26-34 effort during the shortened 2020 campaign.

They failed to make the playoffs after winning the 2019 World Series.