Twins infielder Luis Arraez and right-hander Dylan Bundy have both tested positive for COVID-19, bench coach Jayce Tingler told Betsy Helfand of The St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter links) and other reporters. Manager Rocco Baldelli has also tested positive for the virus, so Tingler is serving as the team’s acting manager.
Tingler and GM Thad Levine addressed the media today about the situation, with Levine saying that the club is waiting on the results of several other tests of team personnel. If this wasn’t enough, outfielder Max Kepler is also under the weather due to another non-COVID illness that is floating around the clubhouse.
It is quite possible that more names could join Arraez and Bundy on the COVID list, but even in the best-case scenario that those are the only positive tests within what may be a minor outbreak, losing even two more players isn’t good for a Twins team that already has several key figures on the regular injured list. Bundy will join Bailey Ober and Sonny Gray as rotation members on the 10-day IL, though Gray is on the verge of a return. Utilityman Arraez was already plugging another hole, playing first base while Miguel Sano is out due to knee surgery.
As per the 2022 version of the league’s COVID protocols, Arraez and Bundy will miss at least the next 10 days, though they may make an earlier return if they meet three criteria — two negative PCR tests, at least 24 hours without a fever, and approval from a team doctor and a MLB/MLBPA joint committee of two other physicians.