The Daily Chop: MLB scrambling to make contingency plans for coronavirus outbreak

The biggest story to come out of Wednesday has to do with the coronavirus outbreak and how Major League Baseball and other professional sports leagues will decide to combat the spread. Late Wednesday night, the NBA suspended its regular season indefinitely after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus. Thus far Major League Baseball has planned to continue playing out the remainder of the spring training schedule with an eye on beginning the regular season as planned.

However, that took a bit of a turn on Wednesday as California became the latest state to issue a limit on large gatherings through at least the remainder of March per ESPN’s Jeff Passan. That will bring into question the home openers for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland A’s and San Diego Padres.

Additionally, the Seattle Mariners will move home games out of Seattle through the end of March after the state of Washington also banned large group events as a response to the outbreak. Currently they are working with the league to determine when and where those games might be held.

The Braves will open the 2020 season in Arizona and are then scheduled to open a three-game series in San Diego on March 30.

Braves News

Freddie Freeman was scratched from Tuesday night’s lineup due to a personal family matter per MLB.com’s Mark Bowman. Freeman is expected to return to the Braves lineup on Friday against the Mets.

Josh Donaldson was interviewed by Braves media members prior to Wednesday’s game and talked about this offseason, his one season in Atlanta and his decision to sign with the Twins. Donaldson added his appreciation for Alex Anthopoulos for taking a chance on him last season.

Max Fried pitched into and out of trouble on Wednesday but the Braves ultimately came away with a 3-2 win over Donaldson and the Twins.

The Braves trimmed four more players from the spring roster on Wednesday optioning Philip Pfeifer, Tucker Davidson, William Contreras and Cristian Pache to Triple-A Gwinnett.

MLB News

Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt is expected to be sidelined several more games due to a sore right elbow. The team has limited Goldschmidt’s throwing since the start of the spring but he hasn’t played since Sunday.

Yankees reliever Zack Britton has been diagnosed with a bruise on his right wrist after he was struck by a line drive during a live BP session. X-Rays came back negative and Britton is considered day-to-day.

An MRI exam on Indians starter Carlos Carrasco’s elbow revealed no structural damage. Carrasco will be shut down for a few days to allow some of the inflammation in his elbow to clear.