Washington Nationals Star Juan Soto Tests Positive for Covid-19

(Bloomberg) -- Washington Nationals left fielder Juan Soto, a favorite to win the National League most-valuable-player award this year, has tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

The news, announced by team General Manager Mike Rizzo, came out just hours before the defending World Series champions were set to open the truncated MLB season against the New York Yankees.

With one of the game’s brightest young stars testing positive, questions will once again arise about the wisdom of starting the season during a pandemic. ESPN reported the news on Soto earlier Thursday, and said he will need two negative tests before he can return to the field.

Rizzo questioned MLB’s testing protocols earlier this month when teams were receiving delayed results. In recent days, Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle said, the testing regime has improved.

“It’s gotten a lot better,” Doolittle said to reporters, “and to give credit where credit is due, the testing turnaround and those protocols have been running, really, really well.”

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