Like many teams across the league, the Pirates have been affected by Major League Baseball's "unforeseen delays" in COVID-19 testing.
According to Pirates manager Derek Shelton, the greatest impact has been in the Pirates' alternate camp in Altoona, Pa.. To his knowledge, people are still waiting on their tests and there are "just minimal" activities going on in the camp.
"We're still awaiting on their results there," Shelton said during a Zoom call after workouts were done Saturday. "And we still have a couple pending here."
Shelton said that "36, 35" of the 40 players the Pirates invited to their MLB summer camp at PNC Park were able to work out Monday. They had their most recent tests Sunday, and they expect to get the results within the next 48 hours.
Across baseball, teams have been having trouble getting results to their COVID-19 tests, to the point that some clubs, like the Nationals and Astros, cancelled workouts on Monday.
“Unfortunately, several situations included unforeseen delays," MLB released in a statement. "We have addressed the delays caused by the holiday weekend and do not expect a recurrence.”
The league is handling all tests in its anti-doping lab in Utah. MLB said they had completed 98-percent of the tests conducted from June 27 to July 3.
MLB's full statement can be found here:
MLB statement on “unforeseen difficulties” with testing. #DKPS #Pirates pic.twitter.com/6wZlHkKBxL
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) July 6, 2020
Test results are supposed to be known within 72 hours, and players are supposed to be tested every other day.
Per the league's health and safety protocols, players are not allowed to enter team facilities until they pass a test. If a player tests positive, they must remain in isolation and are not allowed to return until they pass two consecutive tests.
Two Pirates players -- right-handed pitcher Blake Cederlind and outfielder Socrates Brito -- have tested positive for COVID-19 and consented to have their results made public. They are both isolated. MLB clubs will not announce the results of any test unless the individual consents.
Players are allowed to opt out of the season if they feel the health risk is too great. So far, no Pirates have opted out.
The Pirates' summer camp is broken up into two groups. The Major-League camp is in Pittsburgh, and the club is using Peoples Natural Gas field in Altoona as an alternate training site. 19 players were supposed to be in Altoona for the start of its camp. Those players are not expected to make the opening day club, but could be promoted midseason or be part of the team's "taxi squad" of reserve players.
While the Altoona camp was expected to start a little later than the one in Pittsburgh to make sure it met all the protocols, it is probably later than they expected. Light activities started at PNC Park on July 1, and the first team workout was July 3.
Summer camp is just three weeks long this year. The Pirates will start the regular season July 24 in St. Louis.
