{"id":16980,"date":"2021-04-02T13:54:33","date_gmt":"2021-04-02T17:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=16980"},"modified":"2021-04-02T13:56:59","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T17:56:59","slug":"nats-say-welcome-to-2021-covid-19-says-hold-my-beer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=16980","title":{"rendered":"Nats say &#8220;Welcome to 2021&#8221; &#8230; Covid-19 says &#8220;Hold my Beer&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mlb-logo-covid-19-coronavirus-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-16981\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mlb-logo-covid-19-coronavirus-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mlb-logo-covid-19-coronavirus-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mlb-logo-covid-19-coronavirus-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/mlb-logo-covid-19-coronavirus.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>DETROIT, MI &#8211; JULY 01:  A detailed view of an official Major League Baseball with a surgical mask placed on it sitting outdie of Comerica Park on July 1, 2020 in Detroit, Michigan.  (Photo by Mark Cunningham\/MLB Photos via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, we knew that some Nats players (the numbers keep changing) have tested positive; it started with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/nationals\/news\/nationals-covid-test-results\">one known case<\/a>, then that caused contact-tracing issues with another 4 players and 1 staff member.  We&#8217;ve heard podcasts and reports that perhaps some of the 4 players might have it as well; regardless they&#8217;re now out for at least 10 days.  So far, no mention of who popped positive for HIPAA reasons, but by the time you read this we may know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As of Noon Friday 4\/2\/21, the <a href=\"https:\/\/theathletic.com\/news\/mets-nationals-season-opening-series-postponed-due-to-covid-19-protocols\/n86ExNyq190I?source=rss\">entire opening series<\/a> is now off.  Makes sense; the league probably wants to get a handle on the outbreak, plus its an inter-divisional series that can be turned into a bunch of DHs later on with little travel\/schedule impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sources (aka Nats Beat reporters) have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/Nationals\/comments\/mhdylt\/ghiroli_the_nationals_have_a_positive_covid19\/\">sniffed out the replacement<\/a> call ups, which gives us a hint as to who has to sit for a bit.  Call-ups are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Sam Clay<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Luis Garcia<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Yadiel Hernandez<\/strong><\/li><li><strong>Tres Barrera<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, based on the fact that its one positive test and then four others who were in close contact &#8230; and looking at who these replacements are for &#8230; it stands to reason these are the players who are now under quarantine:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Sam Clay for <strong>Luis Avilan<\/strong><\/li><li>Luis Garcia for <strong>Starlin Castro<\/strong><\/li><li>Yadiel Hernandez for either <strong>Juan Soto<\/strong> or <strong>Victor Robles<\/strong><\/li><li>Tres Barrera for either <strong>Alex Avila<\/strong> or <strong>Yan Gomes<\/strong>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It doesn&#8217;t take a detective to look at that like for like list and make some quick assumptions on who the players are that got hit or who were named in contact tracing; they&#8217;re all Latino.  Which makes sense; if a team has natural cliques its around nationality and native speaking tongues hanging out together on planes and in clubhouses.  The only other Latino players on the 26-man roster not already named would be <strong>Hernan Perez<\/strong> and <strong>Wander Suero<\/strong>, so don&#8217;t be surprised if we find out one of these guys is involved too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bummer all around, and not the best way to get the season started, especially if its taken out half our starting lineup.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other recent news: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>H\/T to NationalsProspects for the BA story on the 2021 draft: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/stories\/2021-mlb-draft-will-be-20-rounds\/\">it will be 20 rounds<\/a>.  With a lost year of development and every team now carrying an entire &#8220;extra&#8221; roster of players who played short-season last year, 20 rounds in 2021 makes sense.  I think the natural landing point might be 30 rounds: basically every pick from the 31st round onwards by the Nats as of late is a HS throw-away designed to give notariety to a scout&#8217;s kid or cousin, or to throw a player a bone who some area scout who didn&#8217;t get any of his guys drafted previously, or to puff up some kid&#8217;s ego who was always going to go to college.  They&#8217;re a waste and you can <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/1Qd5DS9GlmkQOEh_zGhOvlhHK0EegqY1uJB4mLGmRBaY\/edit#gid=0\">count on two hand<\/a>s the number of picks who even stuck with our system for more than a couple seasons from the 30th round onwards  (<strong>Gabe Klobotis<\/strong>, <strong>Tyler Watson, Jorge Pantoja, Angelo LaBruna, Robert Orlan, Billy Burns<\/strong> from the last 10 drafts).  <\/li><li>Also H\/T to <strong>Luke Erickson<\/strong> for the BA story on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/stories\/minor-league-roster-limits-expanded-for-full-season-levels-in-2021\/\">Minor League affiliates increasing in size <\/a>across the board.  Again, this is nothing but a good thing.<\/li><li>Speaking of BA: they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/teams\/1012\/washington-nationals\/organizational\/?year=2021&amp;type=P&amp;utm_source=Newsletter&amp;utm_medium=email\">re-released their Nats top30 prospects<\/a> and built in the Jan 2021 IFA signings, which resulted in the Nats adding their top 2021 IFA <strong>Armando Cruz<\/strong> at #5, with no other changes to our top 30 and HMs (I <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=16896\">reviewed their list in Feb 2021 here<\/a>).  Cruz at #5 by BA makes them the high men on Cruz&#8217;s potential amongst those shops who have rated him.  At this point there&#8217;s just one major shop who has not released their Nats prospect Rankings: Fangraphs\/<strong>Eric Longenhagen<\/strong>, who seems to have gotten overwhelmed by his choice to rank 40+ prospects per system &#8230; by himself &#8230; while also writing other stuff.  New Fangraphs and ex-Astros employee <strong>Kevin Goldstein<\/strong> is now helping get the list done.  we&#8217;ll do a similar reaction piece as we did with other major pundits and then will publish the master prospect lists on the Big Board.<\/li><li>A reminder; we still don&#8217;t have an official opening day 26-man roster; the big board lists 27 &#8230;i&#8217;m guessing <strong>Will Harris<\/strong> will hit the D\/L when the roster is officially released.  Because the games got postponed, the team was not forced to officially release its rosters and can bide some time.<\/li><li>I&#8217;ve updated the <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/186nm-v5F-zTCoR2Be7TFYM3e2cZ-gYi2WVqJLEkHdmc\/edit?hl=en#gid=1687706732\">Big Board<\/a> to have the Alt training site, and to account for all the big moves, DFAs, outrights, roster sizes, etc.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Waiting in a holding pattern.  But lets discuss once we get more news on who is impacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, we knew that some Nats players (the numbers keep changing) have tested positive; it started with one known case, then that caused contact-tracing issues with another 4 players and 1 staff member. We&#8217;ve heard podcasts and reports that perhaps some of the 4 players might have it as well; regardless they&#8217;re now out for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4514,4515,4493,2124,3457,3647,4499,2885,3314,731,966,3051,850,1290,4503,3192,1296,1877,4281,3730],"class_list":["post-16980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natsgeneral","tag-alex-avilan","tag-angelo-labruna","tag-armando-cruz","tag-billy-burns","tag-eric-longenhagen","tag-gabe-klobosits","tag-hernan-perez","tag-jorge-pantoja","tag-juan-soto","tag-kevin-goldstein","tag-luis-avilan","tag-luis-garcia","tag-luke-erickson","tag-robert-orlan","tag-sam-clay","tag-tres-barrera","tag-tyler-watson","tag-wander-suero","tag-will-harris","tag-yadiel-hernandez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16980"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16984,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16980\/revisions\/16984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}