The Washington Nationals will begin their season Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park, the league announced, after their first four games were postponed because of a coronavirus outbreak.
According to MLB, “the most recent round of test results of Nationals personnel included no new positives.” All eligible club personnel will be able to participate in team activities on Monday.
Washington has yet to play a game this season; its opening three-game series against the New York Mets on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday was postponed, as was Monday’s scheduled series opener against the Braves.
Four Nationals players have tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week and are isolating, while a total of another seven are now under quarantine because contact tracing determined they might have been exposed to the illness.
General manager Mike Rizzo said earlier Sunday that none of those 11 — a majority of whom, although not all, were supposed to be on the Opening Day roster — would be available for Monday’s game, had it been played as scheduled. Rizzo has not publicly identified any of the players involved or the two staff members who also have been placed under quarantine because of possible exposure.
MLB said it would provide an update on the rescheduling of the postponed games when available.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
