Pirates among MLB teams with positive tests for covid, manager Derek Shelton confirms

The Pittsburgh Pirates are among the 19 major league teams that have had positive tests for covid-19, manager Derek Shelton confirmed Saturday.

MLB teams provided tests at the start of training camp this week after a nearly four-month shutdown of the sport. Of the 3,185 tests administered across the league, 31 players and seven staff members tested positive. Shelton declined to reveal whether the Pirates’ positive tests involved players, coaches or members of the support staff.

“Organizationally, we have had some positive results,” Shelton said. “As you know, that’s as far as I can go. It’s something you’re gonna want to ask every day, but I’m not going to be able to answer it every day. A lot of teams have reported that they have them, and I would be shocked if we through it and every team doesn’t have any.”

The Pirates are following an Allegheny County order to limit the number of people at PNC Park to 25, forcing them to limit practices to players in small group settings and preventing intrasquad games. The Pirates are using both home and visiting dugouts and clubhouses to practice safe social distancing, and players are wearing masks when they aren’t on the field.

Pirates All-Star first baseman Josh Bell said players have discussed following health and safety protocols and being accountable away from the ballpark, knowing the teams that stay healthy have the best chance of winning when the 60-game season starts July 23 and 24.

“Two or three guys can get it, and they can go down for however long they need to be quarantined,” Bell said. “But, from what we understand, you can get it once and still get it again, and from what we understand, one or two guys can turn into 10 or 15 guys really quickly, so to keep it from going from two to 15 is huge. And if it does get to 15, you have that 10- to 15-person window coming from your second affiliate, and it seems like if they have 10 or 15 guys with it, too, the season shuts down.

“I don’t know, the integrity of the game, it seems like that would happen. So it’s really important. It really boils down to the player caring about getting the season in. We’re going to try to stay as healthy as we can on this side, and godspeed to the guys that have it right now, and godspeed to the guys that are going to get it in the future. But we’ve got to keep the masses from getting it so we can put on a show every night, and we’re going to fight to do that as much as we can.”