Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke

They’re catching more diseases than balls.

Yesterday, the New York Mets were scheduled to play against the Marlins in Miami, followed by a game against their longtime rivals (and I’m using that term loosely) the Yankees on their home turf, Citi Field. Unfortunately, both games were postponed at the last minute due a Mets player and staff member testing positive for COVID-19.

The player and staff member in question have not been publicly identified, though the team has assured everyone that both have been quarantined in Miami, along with anyone who was determined to be in close contact with them. Meanwhile, the rest of the team has returned to New York, taking extra care to follow all safety and health protocols. Today’s game against the Yankees was supposed to be the first in a three-game Subway Series over the course of the weekend, but for the time being, those games will not be played.

Credit: Michael Reaves

The Mets are the latest team to be strongly affected by the virus, with outbreaks occurring within the Miami Marlins, St. Louis Cardinals, and most recently, the Pittsburgh Pirates, whose President, Travis Williams, just announced his own affliction with the virus. As someone with some experience in dealing with the coronavirus and its associate procedures, Cardinals President John Mozeliak offered some advice to the Mets.

“You’ve got to have people willing to be honest and transparent of who they were connected with,” Mozeliak said on Thursday, referring to contact tracing. “Part of what you see in sports is the shaming of, ‘Oh, you brought it into the clubhouse,’ and so then all of a sudden you lose a little bit of that transparency and honesty you need to totally get your hands on it.

“So my advice is: Don’t shame anybody. It’s not a finger-pointing incident — it’s really about helping mitigate spread as best you can.”

Another series is scheduled for the Mets and Yankees next week, though it hasn’t yet been decided if it will be played as is, or if measures will be taken to make up the games missed this weekend.