Atlanta Braves news: injuries highlight hidden COVID-19 impact on the road

Braves Roster decisions impacted by COVID

Players traveling on the team charter aren’t exposed to the general population; any player called up from the alternate site while the Braves are traveling would fly commercial and risk exposure.

Kyle Wright knew he was pitching Wednesday, and it’s likely Bryse Wilson did as well. Smyly went on the IL, and the club activated Wright Friday. It appears Wilson and Jacob Webb also traveled with the team but weren’t on the taxi squad because they were recalled and available immediately.

We found out that player intake rules, like those used in Spring Training requiring a five-day quarantine, are still in effect when Orlando Arcia and Edgar Santana had to go through intake processing after joining the Braves.

According to Jeff Schultz The Athletic (subscription required), the taxi squad does little in the way of practicing, and having other players join the team is virtually impossible on the road.

"Players on the taxi squad only do light workouts while with the team on the road, and are there because they can be moved to the active roster without having to clear COVID-19 protocols . . . to bring in another player from the alternate site (he would) fly commercial (and) need to go through the protocols that can take several days."

The timeline for adding a player, not on the taxi squad would look something like this.

• Look ahead to the city where the team will play in six days
• Get a room in the team hotel
• Fly the player to that city and have him isolate himself in his room for five days
• Get the required Covid testing done before the team arrives
• Hope he isn’t exposed
  • If he is exposed, start again

It’s easy to see why the team brought its starting pitchers on the team charter, and why players on the taxi squad were used instead of players from the alternate site.