HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- The Astros are spending Sunday self-isolating, awaiting the results of tests and contact tracing after the Oakland A's revealed a member of their traveling party tested positive for Covid-19.
"We went through our testing this morning," Astros manager James Click said on a Zoom call with reporters late Sunday morning. "The last time we were tested was Friday, all those came back negative, so we're doing our testing this morning. Those will be sent to the lab. We should have those results tomorrow. If anybody comes up as a result of the contact tracing protocols, we will try to find a way to get them rapid tested locally, assuming that there's capacity."
Click said he was alerted of the A's positive test at around 1:00 am Sunday morning, and Major League Baseball postponed the Sunday's game, and Click says it will not be made up Monday. The Astros are scheduled to play a four-game series in Oakland on September 7-10, though making up a home game on the road is far from ideal.
"We would definitely prioritize having it (in Houston)," Click said. "The idea of having to play an additional home game on the road like we're having to do already with Anaheim definitely undercuts some of the home field advantage, but obviously the safety of the players and staff with the A's and our own is paramount."
Monday is a scheduled off day for the Astros, and Click says it is too early to know if the team's series against the Texas Rangers will be impacted by Sunday's positive test. The Texas rivals have yet to play any of their 10-meetings with one another, and the Rangers still have an additional visit to Minute Maid Park in two weeks, but of greater concern for the Astros is the announcement Click made as the Zoom call was about to end.
"We are going to shut down Corpus Christi again. We did have a positive test down there again. We are optimistic that it will be similar to the last time. We will go through the same procedures in terms of the contact tracing and the deep cleaning, but we did just get that result this morning."
Sunday marks the second time in as many weeks the Astros have had to shutdown their alternate training site, though Click doesn't think it means there are players or staff overtly breaking MLB's protocols.
"Everybody that we've talked to down there is taking this thing very seriously. I think this is more of an indication of just how contagious this virus is."
Before Saturday's doubleheader the Astros brought up Luis Garcia and Aledmys Diaz from Corpus Christi, but Click says it's too early to tell if either player was exposed to the virus.
