Bullpen coach Chris Young is the 2nd Chicago Cubs staff member to test positive — and 3 relievers are put on the COVID-19-related injured list
Bullpen coach Chris Young is the second member of the Chicago Cubs coaching staff to test positive for COVID-19.
The team announced Young’s positive test before Monday’s series opener in Milwaukee. Relievers Brandon Workman, Jason Adam and Dan Winkler were placed on the COVID-19-related injured list. Players can be put on the COVID-19 IL if they have been exposed or tested positive; there is no limit to their length of stay and they do not count against the 40-man roster.
Left-handers Justin Steele and Brad Wieck were recalled from the alternate site in South Bend, Ind. Right-hander Pedro Strop, who is not on the 40-man, was selected as a replacement player from South Bend. Steele made his major-league debut in Monday’s 6-3 loss to the Brewers. A fifth-round pick of the Cubs in 2014, he pitched 1 ⅓ scoreless innings with two strikeouts and a walk.
Young’s case comes days after first base coach Craig Driver’s positive test, which the team revealed Saturday. Driver did not travel with the Cubs to Pittsburgh last week because he was under the weather.
Young was on the team flight from Pittsburgh to Chicago on Sunday night. Cubs manager David Ross said they received two negative test results before leaving Pittsburgh. The Cubs have been tested every day since Wednesday, and the traveling party received negative results from Monday’s tests.
Ross said Monday’s game against the Brewers was not in jeopardy of being postponed.
“Each test continues to come back and we assess as we get the information, running through every protocol, making sure we’re taking every step,” Ross said before the game. “We’ve overtested out of lots of caution. Just trying to keep everybody safe. If there’s any symptoms that pop up or things that don’t look right, we’re being extra cautious right now.”
Once Driver tested positive, the potential for others on the team inevitably was on the Cubs’ radar, even as Ross expressed confidence over the weekend that the situation was isolated. Ross said players and staff have been “pretty diligent” about wearing masks, noting “the way things have shaken out right now, they’ve made some sense.”
With at least two positive tests on the team — there is no information about the three relievers who went on the COVID-19 IL — Ross is hoping for the best-case scenario and planning for the worst. He said that’s the mindset needed in this situation.
“Every time my phone rings and it’s one of the docs or the trainers or (president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer), your heart sinks,” Ross said. “We’re trying to win ballgames, too, right? I mean, there’s just a lot going on and everybody understands the world we’re in, and you just want to make sure everybody comes out OK and stays healthy.
“There’s always that kind of underlying ‘how big is this?’ We are in our own little world here and we try to stay in our own little bubble. So, yeah, there’s concern for sure.”
Center fielder Ian Happ praised the training staff’s work in ensuring protocols have been followed in the aftermath of the positive tests. He appreciates the hours they put into contact tracing, additional testing and procedures. When asked if he is concerned there be more positive tests in the coming days, Happ believes the team has done a good job wearing masks and socially distancing, adding, “we’ll see what happens with the testing.”
“But we’re following every procedure to make sure that we’re as safe as possible.”
Ross continues to hope his team sees the value in getting vaccinated. Happ, the Cubs’ players association representative, said he could not speak on behalf of the MLBPA but that the union’s sentiment is that no player is being forced to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
“The union won’t lean one way or another because it’s the same as it is in the country,” Happ said. “It’s every person’s right. It doesn’t matter which way you lean on it. I know that we have to protect all the players and what they feel comfortable with, so that’s the broad stance I guess.”
The Cubs still are working toward reaching the 85% threshold for loosening restrictions. Ross, who received his vaccine while in Arizona for spring training, reiterated the decision is up to each person.
“It’s readily available,” he said, “and we’re working toward that number as diligently as we can.”
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