MLB: Miami Marlins Season Temporarily Suspended With Positive COVID-19 Cases Rising To 17

The MLB season has kicked off but has been met with some challenges within its setup. With 17 positive cases of COVID-19 among the Miami Marlins, the team is temporarily suspended as a precautionary measure.

This is a case for concern for the league provided that safety and everyone’s health remains to be the main priority. The immediate impact of this suspension in the Marlins’ schedule includes the postponement of their next six games, including their upcoming game against the Baltimore Orioles. This will entail a slight change for the Orioles, as they will suit up against the New York Yankees instead.

In addition to this, the MLB has administered 6,400 tests over the past four days to ensure that the league is able to monitor everyone properly. No new positive results were reported among on-field personnel across the league’s 29 other teams aside from the Marlins.

While the news that the positive cases have been contained within one team, it leaves no room for complacency across the league. The global pandemic has affected everyone’s lives and continues to leave a significant impact across the world. While the resumption of the games is important, the welfare of the players, staff and those working for the league must be the main concern.

"There's real fear, there's real anxiety for me, for all my teammates," Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun said by way of AP News.

With the ever-evolving situation, it has been a challenge to put the sport over everything else that has been happening.

"I think we've found it very difficult to focus on baseball at all the last couple of days,” Braun concluded.

Per Forbes, an alternative proposed by New York governor Andrew Cuomo shared that the games can be played in New York if other states were deemed too risky.

"Here's my suggestion — I understand the challenge they're facing. New York state could host any major league baseball game that any teams want to play and they could play those games in our stadiums," Cuomo shared.

It will be interesting to see how the Marlins bounce back in this predicament and if MLB is able to secure that the other teams will be safe moving forward.