Day 1 of Red Sox spring (summer?) training, and the team already has some positive COVID-19 cases. Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez isn't one of them. At least not yet.
Manager Ron Roenicke told reporters in a Zoom call on Friday that he doesn't plan on naming those who test positive unless a player gives him the OK, but he did want to touch on Rodriguez.
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The 19-game winner is not yet with the team. He has instead stayed behind in Miami, awaiting the results of his own test because, "he was around somebody that was sick," Roenicke said.
"He wanted to just make sure that he was fine so we have tested him, we don't have the results back yet and when we get those results, obviously you'll know," Roenicke said. "Eddie was fine with me telling you guys that. I just don't want to have to talk about this every day because it's going to come up every day."
Roenicke offered no further information on which players had tested positive or even how many — "MLB doesn't want us to go there," he said — but he said that he would try to keep the media apprised of any developments to avoid constant speculation over whether absent players have tested positive. He noted that some players will be held out of workouts pending rest results, even though they may be healthy.
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He also said that no Red Sox players have opted out of the season.
"I think for just playing everybody so far has said they're going to play and is planning to come to camp," he said. "If they're not here, it's because of testing or they're not feeling well, but everybody in our club is planning on participating this year."
As for Rodriguez, he's coming off the best season of his career, a 19-6, 3.81 campaign that saw him finish sixth in the AL Cy Young voting. With David Price traded, Chris Sale out of the season, and Rick Porcello gone in free agency, Rodriguez is now the unquestioned ace of the staff.