There will be no baseball played in Washington this weekend, and no All-Star Game in Atlanta this summer.
A COVID-19 outbreak affecting more than a third of the Nationals’ roster has caused the postponement of their season-opening, three-game series against the visiting New York Mets.
General manager Mike Rizzo says four of Washington’s players have tested positive for the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, and another five were quarantining after contact tracing determined they might have been exposed. The Mets plan to spend the weekend practicing at Nats Park before heading to Philadelphia to play their new season opener on Monday. The Nationals still hope to open their scheduled series with the Braves on Monday.
Meanwhile, Major League Baseball is pulling this year’s All-Star Game from Atlanta over objections to sweeping changes to Georgia voting laws that critics have condemned as being too restrictive.
The decision to move the July 13 game from Truist Park amounts to the first economic backlash against Georgia for the voting law that Republican Gov. Brian Kemp quickly signed into law last week. Read more
