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Angels' Mike Trout: MLB Season Will Be 'Tough' Without Faster COVID-19 Testing
August 5, 2020
Los Angeles Angels center fielder Mike Trout said Tuesday that it will be "tough" to finish the 2020 MLB season with testing every other day instead of every day, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
"The protocols are good. It's just the testing. I've said this from Day 1, if you don't have testing every day, it's going to be tough. You're always trying to catch up and trying to catch it. You know, if we get tested Friday, we have to wait two days to get the results back, and you don't know what's going to happen in between."
"You've seen it with the Marlins, you've seen it with the Cardinals, it spreads fast," he continued, referencing the two breakouts that have already happened in the opening weeks.
Trout, who took a five-day leave of absence for the birth of his son, said the only reason he chose against opting out amid the COVID-19 pandemic is the amount of trust he has in the rest of the Angels to follow the health and safety protocols.
Still, he laid out a scenario where the current testing situation would be a problem.
"It's definitely scary for baseball," he said. "I've been saying this the whole time, it only takes one person. If you're asymptomatic and don't know, and you have it, and with the testing on Friday or Saturday, and you don't get the results until after you land on a flight Sunday, and you're positive, it would be a mess."
The Marlins, Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies have already had a number of games postponed because of the outbreaks. The Phillies' cancellations came after they played the Marlins around the time of Miami's outbreak.
As for Trout, he was included in Tuesday's lineup after he tweeted Monday that he was headed to Seattle for a series against the Mariners:
Tuesday marks his first game since Wednesday, July 29, and the Angels went 1-3 without him. They dropped to 3-7 overall, continuing their early failure to live up to elevated expectations after Anthony Rendon and Joe Maddon joined the team this offseason.
In addition, Shohei Ohtani is already dealing with injuries.
The three-time American League MVP and seven-time Silver Slugger will do what he can to help his team turn things around as long as MLB continues to hold games amid the pandemic.