Three different lineups were submitted by the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday in advance of their 1:10 p.m. game at home against the Detroit Tigers.
Mike Moustakas was slated to take the field but was scratched because he woke up feeling sick and was instructed to stay home. Shortly before game time, it was announced that Moustakas had been placed on the injured list, but no reason was immediately provided. There is no minimum number of days for a player’s IR stay, so hope reigns that it could be an unrelated sickness. That said, one would tend to believe that at the very least there is some concern for COVID-19 being the reason for the designation.
Teammate Matt Davidson was placed on the injured list on Saturday after testing positive for COVID-19. Davidson played in the Reds’ game on Friday and was seemingly in close contact with most of his teammates.
It was unknown immediately whom he had most contact with during his time with the team, and because the MLB protocol involves sending tests to the lab in Utah, it’s not uncommon for test results to be unavailable until as much as 16 hours later. It is possible that Davison was carrying the virus all day Friday and throughout the evening’s game without knowing.
After adjusting the lineup, Nick Senzel, who was not previously expected to start, was inserted into the lineup in Moustakas’s place but then he, too, was also immediately scratched. No reason had been provided by the team as of first pitch.
The Reds have been one of the few teams in baseball that the virus has not affected as of yet, with the lone exception being former Reds outfielder Derek Dietrich, who tested positive before summer camp.
Right now, fans are holding their breath until the reason for Moustakas’s trip to the IL is revealed, as well as the degree of sickness for Senzel. Fan favorites Aristides Aquino and rookie catcher Tyler Stephenson have been added to the active roster.
