Miami Marlins' COVID-19 outbreak threatens 2020 Major League Baseball season

Barely a week since the 2020 Major League Baseball (MLB) batted off last July 23, 2020, a Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak among the Miami Marlins threatens the whole season.

The 2020 MLB had already made a lot of changes just to pull off the season amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It started four months late, and instead of 162 games will only be settling for 60. And, all games have no spectators.

However, the whole 2020 MLB season may yet get suspended or worst canceled following 14 players and staff members of the Marlins testing positive for COVID-19.

It was not clear where the Marlins contracted the virus, but before playing a three-game series in Philadelphia, they had come from Atlanta, where they had played two exhibition games against the Braves.

The team has canceled their trip home to Miami and will be staying in Philadelphia while waiting for the results of their latest round of testing, said Derek Jeter, Marlins CEO.

So far, the league has canceled three games due to the incident, two for Monday (July 27) night, and one for Tuesday (July 28). These are the two games of the Miami Marlins, including their home series opener against Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies home game against New York Yankees.

According to CNN, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred had a conference with the owners of the leagues' 30 teams, but canceling the 2020 MLB season was not discussed.

Manfred had said in an interview with MLB Network that additional tests are being done, and should they get an acceptable result, the Marlins will travel to Baltimore for their game against the Orioles on Wednesday, July 29.

Although other teams have had players and staff testing positive for COVID-19, the Marlins are the first to have an outbreak.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US' leading expert in infectious disease and a Washington Nationals fan, told CNN that he wanted to remain positive about the 2020 MLB season because a lot of hard work and sacrifices had gone into starting the season safely.

Fauci had thrown the ceremonial first pitch for the 2019 World Series champions last July 23.

With the Miami Marlins COVID-19 outbreak, questions have been raised on whether the league should have just waited for 2021 and canceled the 2020 season. What do you think?

Image credit courtesy of Elizabeth Gilbert/Flickr