It seemed like the Red Sox were over the hump with their COVID-19 outbreak, but it may not be over just yet.
Boston manager Alex Cora announced before Friday’s game against the Cleveland Indians that outfielder Jarren Duran wouldn’t be available as he was sick and required testing for the virus.
“Duran is not feeling well,” he said. “So he’s going through his testing. Obviously he won’t be here with us today. We’ll know more hopefully later today or in the third inning, I guess. We’ll know. But he doesn’t feel great, so we’ll go through the process.”
The rookie originally was slated to play center field and hit seventh in Friday’s game, so there were several lineup changes also announced. Alex Verdugo will take over in center field and hit fourth, while Kyle Schwarber — who was meant to play first base — will remain in the leadoff spot but shift to left field. Bobby Dalbec, who did not appear in the original lineup, will play first base and take Duran’s spot in the order.
The Red Sox have been dealing with COVID-19 for a week now, with 11 people affected at this point. There have been eight positive tests and three close contacts.
Cora did have a promising update on three of the affected players — he believes Kiké Hernández, Christian Arroyo and Xander Bogaerts all should be back with the team by the end of next week.
