New San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham tested positive for the coronavirus, general manager A.J. Preller announced Friday.
Preller told reporters on a Zoom call before the team’s first official summer camp workout began at Petco Park.
“He began the self-isolation process immediately. He is asymptomatic. I’ve been in contact with him every single day. He feels fine/asymptomatic. As a staff, we will be following all the contact tracing protocols and all the MLB protocols in terms of what you do when you have a player that has a positive corona test.”
“MLB has guidelines in there as well, some different check-box systems as well, that we are in the process of going through, and when Tommy clears those and checks those boxes, we will talk about Tommy returning to play for the Padres,” Preller said.
The Padres acquired Pham, 33, in a Dec. 7 trade with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Padres also received infielder/right-handed pitcher Jake Cronenworth. They sent the Rays outfielder Hunter Renfroe, infielder Xavier Edwards and a player to be named.
The first set of results for COVID-19 testing have been jointly announced by @MLB and the @MLB_PLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/zlqZPuxLxh
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) July 3, 2020
Pham led Tampa Bay in hits with 155, 33 doubles, 81 walks and 25 stolen bases.
Since the beginning of the 2015 season, Pham’s .373 on-base percentage ranks 18th among all qualified major league players. He trails Los Angeles Dodger infielder Justin Turner (15th, .378), Boston Red Sox outfielder J.D. Martinez (16th, .376) and new Dodger Mookie Betts (17th, .374).
There were 38 positive tests – 31 among players and seven among staff members – in the first set of results in the mandatory screening process. The tests are taking place under MLB’s COVID-19 Health Monitoring & Testing Plan, the league and Major League Baseball Players Association jointly announced Friday.
The positive tests represented 1.2% of the 3,185 total samples collected and tested. Nineteen of the 30 MLB teams have had one or more individuals test positive during testing.
Under MLB’s COVID-19 Health Monitoring & Testing Plan, a covered individual who tests positive for the coronavirus will kept from a number of activities.
The league will bar them from travel (except as authorized by club medical staff and the Joint Committee), access to any team facility, and direct contact with any other covered individual or club staff.
They must receive a negative result on two separate tests performed by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory taken at least 24 hours apart, among other benchmarks before being allowed to return to their teams.
– City News Service