Indians pitcher rips Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac for breaking protocol

Trust is everything in an MLB locker room during COVID-19, and two Cleveland pitchers broke that bond

Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac will undergo testing for COVID-19, and will have to receive negative results twice before they can return to the ballpark. The Indians are following MLB protocol, which is more than we can say about two of their starting pitchers, both of whom went out in Chicago on a road trip. Both have apologized for their actions, but the damage is done, especially in a locker room which features a cancer survivor in Carlos Carrasco and manager with heart issues in Terry Francona. None of that was taken into account by either player: Who wants to be stuck inside?

Yet, it’s a sacrifice all MLB players must make at this time, especially given the outbreaks we’ve already seen in Miami and St. Louis.

Plesac and Clevinger will have to regain the trust of their teammates

“They hurt us bad. They lied to us. They sat here in front of you guys and publicly said things that they didn’t follow through on,” Cleveland pitcher Adam Plutko said, per Bob Nightengale.

Clevinger, in particular, even flew back with the team despite knowingly having broken protocol. He put the Indians players and their families at risk without saying a word.

“This one kind of hurts,’’ Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “We talked about it as a team today. We will deal with it as we always do. We care about each other, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get disappointed with each other, or mad at each sometimes. Not being vindictive, how we do we make it better, so it doesn’t happen again?’’

The errors in judgement by Clevinger and Plesac will hopefully serve as a warning to the rest of Cleveland’s roster — and the entire MLB, for that matter — that COVID-19 protocols are meant to be taken seriously. If not, players risk far more than just public embarrassment.