Charlie Blackmon, 2 other Colorado Rockies test positive for coronavirus
All-Star outfielder Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies has become the first Major League Baseball player known to have tested positive for the coronavirus.
A person familiar with Blackmon’s situation confirmed the test result to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement.
The Denver Post first reported Blackmon’s condition, saying Tuesday that three Rockies players had tested positive.
Blackmon is a four-time All-Star slugger who hit .314 with 32 home runs and 86 RBIs last season. He turns 34 on July 1, the day players are set to begin reporting for the resumption of spring training.
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred imposed a 60-game season Tuesday night after failed financial negotiations between owners and players. The season that’s been delayed by the pandemic will begin either July 23 or 24.
The Philadelphia Phillies have said seven players have tested positive for the virus without identifying any of them. Several other teams have said they also have players who have tested positive.
The Post reported Blackmon tested positive last week after workouts at Coors Field in Denver. The newspaper said the Rockies then closed the ballpark, following MLB protocol.
Phillip Diehl and Ryan Castellani are the other Rockies players who tested positive for coronavirus after workouts at Coors Field, major-league sources told The Denver Post.
Diehl, a left-handed reliever, made his MLB debut last year. The right-handed Castellani has yet to make his major-league debut but is on the team’s 40-man roster, the Post reported.
Many players around the majors have been working in recent weeks at either their home ballparks or their team’s complexes in Florida or Arizona. MLB closed all spring camp sites last Friday because of virus concerns.
Blackmon has been an All-Star the last three seasons. He is a career .304 hitter in nine years.
Also Tuesday, All-Star center Nikola Jokic tested positive for the coronavirus while in his home country of Serbia, ESPN reporte. Jokic is asymptomatic and expected to return to the United States and the Nuggets later this week.
———
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
Colorado Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon walks through the dugout prior to a spring training baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds Tuesday, March 10, 2020, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
The Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon, left, high-fives teammate Nolan Arenado after scoring on Daniel Murphy’s fielder’s choice ground ball in the ninth inning against the Nationals on Thursday in Washington.
The Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon is congratulated by Trevor Story, right, after hitting a home run to tie the Padres at 3-3 as Nolan Arenado looks on during the fifth inning Thursday night in San Diego. The Padres led 8-3 in the eighth. For a result of the late game, go to gazettedev.gazette.com.
Blackmon tries to keep it close
Colorado Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon follows the flight of his RBI-single off San Diego Padres relief pitcher Phil Maton in the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, June 16, 2019, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)