Are MLB players safe from the coronavirus at summer training camps? Kris Bryant doesn't think so.
The Cubs third baseman believes his team gets tested too infrequently.
According to the return-to-play agreement between MLB and the players union, players were promised they would be tested every other day and receive results within 24 to 48 hours.
Speaking with reporters on Monday, Bryant said that some players had only been tested once within seven days.
"I don't want to be insensitive to people who haven't been able to get tests, but as the country gets access to more of those, it's appropriate to talk about our situation here," Bryant said Monday. "What we agreed to was testing every other day, and we've had guys who showed up on Sunday [June 28] and hadn't got tested again [until] seven days later. And you don't get the results until two days later. That's nine days without knowing.
"If we want this to succeed, we have to figure this out. I wanted to play this year because I thought it would be safe. Honestly, I don't really feel that."
Despite testing delays, MLB plans to start a 60-game season July 23.
MLB's regular season begins on July 23rd with two great matchups. pic.twitter.com/jXH6OO8Doc
— MLB (@MLB) July 6, 2020
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MLB released a statement about the testing delays on Monday. The league said the results for 98 percent of the samples taken from June 27 to July 3 have been reported as of Sunday night and added that 86 samples out of 3,740 remained pending as of Monday morning.
"Our plan required extensive delivery and shipping services, including proactive special accommodations to account for the holiday weekend," the statement read. "The vast majority of those deliveries occurred without incident and allowed the protocols to function as planned.
"Unfortunately, several situations included unforeseen delays. We have addressed the delays caused by the holiday weekend and do not expect a recurrence."
As of Tuesday, six MLB teams have canceled practices and workouts because of concerns about the testing delays.
"If we can't really nail the easy part, which is right now, just our players, we have a big problem," Bryant said.