A month ago, Zach Plesac said it was “common sense” for MLB players to abstain from things like going out after games, just to make sure the baseball season could function during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pretty mature insight from the 25-year-old Indians pitcher.
Except he ignored his own advice Saturday night following a start against the Chicago White Sox, and got sent home by Cleveland after violating the team’s COVID-19 protocols. From nearby Crown Point, Indiana, Plesac went out with some friends after limiting Chicago to just five hits and no runs in six innings.
The earned Plesac a one-way rental car trip back to Ohio.
“I would like to apologize to my teammates, the entire Cleveland organization and all of our fans for my actions Saturday evening,” Plesac said in a statement. “I realize I made a poor choice to leave the hotel, which broke protocols and could have endangered other people. I understand that in these times of uncertainty, I need to be more vigilant and responsible and I am determined to earn my teammates’ forgiveness and get back to work.”
All of this while teams like the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals can’t get on the field due to coronavirus outbreaks.
Plesac is the Indians’ fifth starter right now, but has a 1.29 ERA in his three starts. Now he will be quarantined from his teammates and tested daily. Further discipline from the team is possible.
“Definitely any time you can maintain social distancing is going to be what we have to focus on,” Plesac said on July 3. “There are common sense situations, where you see things are packed, or going out to the bars and drinking -- doing stuff like that isn’t stuff that’s really important to us right now and shouldn’t be important to us right now.”