CLEVELAND – Cleveland Indians third baseman José Ramírez and slugger Franmil Reyes were cut off from their teammates in spring training after breaking COVID-19 protocols.
Coach Terry Francona said on Sunday that the two players had been sent to their temporary homes in Arizona, while the Indians await word from the league about when they will be able to return to the team.
Francona said Reyes went to the Indians’ exhibition game on Friday in Mesa and went to get a haircut after the 10-4 victory.
Reyes, who took a similar misstep last year when spring training resumed after the coronavirus shutdown, told the Indians that he and Ramirez went out to dinner and were indoors, which violates COVID- 19 established by Major League Baseball and the players’ Union.
Francona said Reyes and Ramirez arrived at the team compound on Saturday and were immediately sent home. They had no contact with any other player or staff on the team.
“We are very lucky here,” said Francona. “We have some doctors who are on top of things and they came right up to me and said, ‘Look, this is what we are doing. We are informing the league. ‘ The players themselves reported that they made a mistake.
“So we said to them, ‘These are not our rules. These are the rules that the players’ association and the Major League Baseball have created. We have to apply them.'”
Francona said he talked to the two players, who understand that they may have put others at risk.
“They were frank and honest with us about what happened,” said Francona. “We are not trying to put the guys in the penalty box. We try to talk to the guys almost every day. ‘Hey, it will happen if – it doesn’t matter whether you agree with it or not. protocols that are in place and you have to live by them. ‘”
Last season, the Indians were forced to isolate regular pitchers Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac when they broke the protocols of COVID-19 by going out to eat while the team was in Chicago. Clevinger was negotiated with San Diego a few weeks later.