Into the Unknown: Rangers at the Mercy of Intake Testing Process with Gallo and Guzmán
ARLINGTON, Texas — Three days of Texas Rangers Summer Camp are in the books. Despite the circumstances, there are a number of positives to take away from the very unique situation the Rangers are in, along with the other 29 clubs in Major League Baseball.
First, Rougned Odor and Isiah Kiner-Falefa look like they never left Spring Training. They have shown very well in the first few days of camp, which is probably the most encouraging takeaway from camp aside from anything related to COVID-19 (we'll get to that in a minute).
After manager Chris Woodward praised the starting pitchers last week for how they maintained their readiness throughout the three-and-a-half month shutdown, they've proven as much on the mound at Globe Life Field. Corey Kluber and Mike Minor threw 85 and 77 pitches respectively on Saturday while Kyle Gibson threw 59 pitches over four unique innings on Sunday. Starting pitching is the backbone of the 2020 Rangers and they are hitting the ground running almost seamlessly.
What's not been as flawless is the intake process of getting everyone back on the field safely and swiftly. LHP Brett Martin is the Rangers' only confirmed positive COVID-19 test among the 57 players on the roster. However, star slugger Joey Gallo and potential starting first baseman Ronald Guzmán are still noticeably absent, along with a few players that recently flew in from Latin America.
Speculation will grow every day that Gallo and Guzmán are forced to sit out. In a Sunday morning conference call with local reporters, Rangers General Manager Jon Daniels confirmed that both Gallo and Guzmán were still going through the intake testing process, but was unable to be forthright with detailed information.
"Hopefully we'll have information here very soon," Daniels said. "But we don't have all the testing back yet, amongst some other things that need to happen before we can address whether they're able to join us here at the facility."
Daniels did, however, decline to answer whether or not the Rangers have had more than just the one positive test.
"I don't have any plans to announce how many positives we have," he said. "I prefer not to."
There are two sides to that coin. Due to health privacy laws, MLB clubs cannot announce any positive tests without the player's permission. Clearly, Brett Martin gave the Rangers the green light to announce his case publicly. If—and I mean if—Gallo or Guzmán have tested positive, the Rangers could not and will not disclose that information in any form unless the player signs off on it.
The club's silence on the matter doesn't necessarily mean they are keeping something under wraps either. The intake testing process is not only extremely complicated, it's also not exactly a well-oiled machine. The Oakland Athletics are still waiting for their tests to be shipped to MLB's testing center in Salt Lake City, which is delaying their intrasquad games. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal also reported on Sunday night the Angels had issues with their tests getting sent out, delaying their workouts as well.
"I think we're expecting issues like this," Chris Woodward said after Sunday's intrasquad game. "Everybody in baseball, all the tests are going to a facility in Salt Lake that probably is a little bit overwhelmed. So we kind of expected there to be some issues with some of the testing.
"And, listen, no test is perfect. So if some tests come back negative or come back positive, they're obviously going to be protocols for every kind of scenario. So, I fully expected this. I've actually been pleasantly surprised by how smooth a lot of it is gone. I was expecting there to be a lot more issues, to be honest with you."
One intriguing revelation on Sunday was Guzmán's clearance to be at Globe Life Field, but not participate with his teammates in any capacity. With no mention of Gallo being given that kind of clearance, it's evident that they are in different places in the process.
"It's kind of specific to the player and their circumstances," Daniels said of the intake testing protocols. "There are times when the process goes smoothly and it's step one, step two, step three. And there are times, because of other things that it's taking quite a bit longer. But until the player has fully cleared all the process, a lot of which is out of our control, the testing facility and other things involved, it just, the front end is taking longer than I think it will throughout the year. That's my hope anyway."
Unfortunately, we're all at the mercy of vague reports and updates throughout this entire process. But the Rangers are not alone in this. Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi addressed reporters in a similar way about players who remain absent from their camp. He even went a step further and asked that nobody assume anyone absent has tested positive for COVID-19.
“I’m not trying to be secretive. This is just the protocol that I’ve been asked to follow," Girardi told MLB.com. There’s a number of different things. Sometimes certain tests take longer than others. We don’t have any reason why. Sometimes it can be through contact tracing. ... It could be another medical condition that could be someone in their family that I’m not allowed to talk about. It’s unfortunate that I can’t in a way be more direct, but don’t make the assumption that someone is always positive when I say that. I’m not trying to mislead anyone.”
The Rangers have an intrasquad game scheduled for 1 p.m. on Monday afternoon. Jordan Lyles and Kolby Allard are expected to pitch. Any other appearances are at the mercy of intake testing.
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