José Abreu Held Out of Camp After Positive COVID Test

Hamster teased this information in last night’s spring training update, but in fact it is a worst-case (or, worser-case) scenario for José Abreu, as he has in fact tested positive for coronavirus. The MVP believes he contracted the virus back in January.

Abreu reports to be asymptomatic, and his infection apparently was so mild he didn’t realize he’d contracted COVID at all. Still, the White Sox are forced to delay his entry into camp, and Abreu’s spring will be affected by the health protocols and precautions.

Asymptomatic is the key word here with regard to how we might reasonably see Abreu’s 2021 season going forward.

Yoán Moncada, while initially professing very little effect from his coronavirus infection discovered on intake to last July’s Summer Camp, did admit symptoms, including the loss of smell. While his strong Summer Camp work continued to surprise manager Ricky Renteria and his coaching staff, Moncada frequently was held out of action during the short season, and was clearly unable to build stamina and strength beyond a certain point. Moncada admitted such by season’s end.

Abreu’s lack of symptoms hopefully points to a case that will hardly affect his follow-up MVP season. Being an an older age than Moncada would appear to be much less a debilitating factor for Abreu than whether he contracted the virus with symptoms.

Providing this truly was a surprise to Abreu and he at no point had coronavirus symptoms, for now it seems we can put this more in the mild setback category as 2021 gets rolling.