Fansided

Andrew McCutchen calls out MLB for postponing games without telling players

By Josh Hill

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 16: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Philadelphia Phillies in action during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park on May 16, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Brewers defeated the Phillies 11-3. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - MAY 16: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Philadelphia Phillies in action during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park on May 16, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Brewers defeated the Phillies 11-3. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /
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It sounds like MLB is handling the containment of a potential COVID-19 outbreak as well as you’d expect. 

Who could have guessed that a league that haphazardly rushed itself into playing a season that didn’t need to be played would be making poor decisions?

This weekend saw the outbreak of COVID-19 within the Miami Marlins clubhouse, and despite knowing beforehand that there were players possibly infected with the deadly virus played a game anyway.

The ripple effect has caused the cancellation of multiple games, including two for the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that the Marlins were playing this weekend. Fans found out Monday morning that the day’s game between the Phillies and Yankees was being postponed, and the same thing happened on Tuesday.

Given the extreme severity of the situation, one would assume a multi-billion dollar business would be handling the matter responsibly. Andrew McCutchen wants everyone to know that’s not the case and he’s hearing things at the same time as everyone else.

McCutchen says that MLB isn’t directly telling the Phillies or its players anything about the situation and is going as far as to cancel games without notifying anyone ahead of releasing the information to the general public.

In fact, it’s not just McCutchen who is in the dark about what the Phillies are planning on doing from day-to-day. According to Phillies beat writer Matt Gelb, no one in management was informed of the league’s decision to postpone games ahead of the decision being announced to the media.

That’s a huge problem, but one not entirely surprising given the league’s handling of literally every step of this process. Beyond the bungling of the Marlins outbreak this weekend in which canceling the season was somehow avoided, MLB has been on the wrong side of virtually every single decision made since deciding to return to action and play the 2020 season.

In the digital age, where communication happens accidentally almost as much as it happens on purpose, relaying a message as simple as the postponement of a game seems easy. But what’s easy to an elementary student with sticky fingers and half a crayon up their nose is apparently too complicated for those calling the shots within MLB.

Given how everything up to this point has been handled though, who can be surprised?

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