During his appearance on WEEI Thursday, Hunter Renfroe (who won Wednesday night’s game with a miraculous, potentially season-saving throw to gun down Joey Wendle at third base) told Merloni and Fauria the Red Sox were instructed by MLB to stop testing for COVID and simply “treat symptoms” amid the team’s recent outbreak.
Hosts Lou Merloni and Christian Fauria appeared noticeably startled at that news and for good reason as that would be an obvious violation of COVID protocol. However, the Red Sox and MLB have both refuted Renfroe’s claim, insisting the team has continued to test players and staff the way they normally would.
“[Renfroe] is completely wrong and inaccurate,” a league spokesperson confirmed to Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe. The Red Sox were equally definitive in their response.
“We have been following MLB’s COVID-19 protocols all season along,” the Red Sox relayed to ESPN’s Joon Lee. “We have consulted closely with them on everything we’ve done and continue to test and their medical staff has been very supportive.”
COVID tests aren’t required of fully vaccinated players and coaches unless they experience symptoms or are deemed a “close contact” of someone who tested positive. This important distinction, which manager Alex Cora spoke about earlier this summer when bench coach Will Venable (who is fully vaccinated) contracted the virus, may have led to some confusion on Renfroe’s part.
Seventeen players on the Red Sox, including All-Stars Xander Bogaerts and Matt Barnes, have landed on the COVID IL this season, second-most to the Phillies among major-league teams.
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