Red Sox closer Matt Barnes placed on COVID-related injury list after experiencing symptoms

Matt Barnes has already faced one scare with COVID-19 this season, and now he and the Red Sox are hoping to avoid another one.

The All-Star closer was placed on the COVID-related injury list on Tuesday after not feeling well and experiencing virus-like symptoms as the Red Sox arrived in Detroit this week for their three-game series against the Tigers. Barnes was still waiting for his COVID-19 test result as of Tuesday afternoon as he stayed back in the team hotel in Detroit.

“His test is over there in the hotel,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Hopefully everything goes well with him.”

Cora said the Red Sox as a group were tested on Tuesday and all of them have come back negative. If he tests negative, Barnes would be eligible to come off the COVID IL at any time.

Barnes tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of spring training in March, but it turned out to be a false positive, and he and those who were deemed close contacts were cleared for the start of the season. The pitcher was vaccinated in April, but the team as a whole still has not reached the 85% vaccination threshold required to relax protocols.

The situation has presented yet another reminder for the Red Sox that the fight against COVID-19 isn’t over as the pandemic continues. The Yankees were hit again this week as starting pitchers Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery tested positive, which Cora said “alarmed” him.

“Like I’ve been saying all along, we can control what we can control,” Cora said. “We just came from Florida. We know the numbers. It’s a reality outside the Red Sox and the Yankees and the Rays. It’s the reality of the world. We’re not superheroes. We’re susceptible to this. We know that. All we can control is what we do in the clubhouse, what we do in the hotel, what we do with our families.

“I’ve been saying this since the first press conference with you guys. I’m not going to stop until it’s over. It’s something that is out there. It’s part of it and hopefully it doesn’t hit any other group out there, because it’s hard. It’s hard to see. It’s just our reality.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3A9hsYe