Phillip Diehl

MLB: Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon and a former Yankees reliever test positive for COVID-19

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With the negotiations hurdle between MLB and the players association in the past (while it wasn’t technically cleared, it is now in the rearview mirror, at least for now) we will have baseball in 2020. The league said that the season would start either on July 23 or 24, and players will start reporting to camp on July 1st.

The common enemy is, and always was, the current, ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that instead of decreasing in cases, deaths and importance, is spiking as we speak. In the last few hours, the outbreak hit MLB very hard.

The Philadelphia Phillies announced that more players and staffers tested positive for the virus, while a former New York Yankees‘ reliever, Phil Diehl (the one they sent to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for outfielder Mike Tauchman) also has the disease.

An MLB star has coronavirus

Perhaps the most prominent player, performance-wise, to test positive for coronavirus in the last day is Rockies’ outfielder Charlie Blackmon. Starting pitcher Ryan Castellani also has the virus, so we could be talking about a possible outbreak in MLB in just a matter of days if the health and safety protocols aren’t effective.

Here is the Denver Post report about the Rockies’ situation:

“Several Rockies have been working out at Coors Field this month, including taking live at-bats. The positive tests came late last week, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. One player was showing symptoms and the other two were asymptomatic.

“After the three players tested positive, all of the other players who were working out at Coors Field were tested for coronavirus. Those tests came back negative. Per Major League Baseball protocol, Coors Field has been closed for the week.”

Per NJ.com, about 40 players and staff members reportedly tested positive for the virus last week.

New York Yankees acquire Mike Tauchman, send Tyler Wade to AAA

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New York Yankees, Tyler Wade

In what was a surprising move on Saturday, the New York Yankees traded left hand pitcher Phillip Diehl to the Colorado Rockies for outfielder Mike Tauchman. With that move, the Yankees placed Jordan Montgomery on the 60 day IL and sent Tyler Wade to AAA. This is a surprising move for a number of reasons, and unfair to Wade who had a fantastic spring.

Tauchman hasn’t had much success

Mike Tauchman is a 28 year old lefty outfielder who was drafted in the 10th round by the Rockies. He attended Bradley University in his home state of Illinois. Tauchman has struggled in his limited time in the MLB, batting just .253 in 59 career at-bats. His WAR is at -0.8 and his slugging percentage is only at .203. It isn’t like he had a great spring either, he only hit .196 in 46 at-bats.

The player they gave up in the trade, Phillip Diehl, had a pretty solid spring. He had a 4.50 ERA, which may seem kinda high, but this is the highest level he has pitched at in his career, only seeing limited time in AA last season. He started to come up on the Yankees radar for a possible option in two or so years out of the bullpen, but obviously that isn’t the case anymore.

You have to feel bad for Tyler Wade

Though he has also struggled in the MLB, Tyler Wade had a fantastic spring and deserves to be on the opening day roster. Instead, he will be watching from the clubhouse in Scranton. He hit .312 this spring with a .532 slugging percentage, and is very versatile. The team had also used him in pinch-running situations and he can steal bases.

The poor kid was looking for another shot and deserved it, but now has to get off to a good start in AAA. With injuries already a theme in 2019, there is likely a good chance he will be up again in a matter of time.