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At least four members of the Mets organization will miss Friday’s home opener against the Diamondbacks after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.
After Newsday‘s Tim Healey reported that “a bunch of players and coaches” were deemed close contacts to the staff member, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported that outfielders Mark Canha and Brandon Nimmo have also tested positive for COVID. Both starters are asymptomatic, Puma noted. They were not included in the team’s starting lineup, released ahead of this afternoon’s game.
When speaking to reporters prior to Friday’s game, Mets manager Buck Showalter confirmed there is also a “coach down today,” but did not divulge the status of Nimmo and Canha nor the identity of the coach, per Deesha Thosar of New York Daily News.
Canha’s wife Marci later took to social media to confirm his absence and vaccination status, as well as express the family’s disappointment in missing New York’s first game of the season at Citi Field. Canha is in his first season with the Mets.
“We are beyond sad to miss such a special day for our family,” she wrote. “We‘ve been looking forward to opening day at Citi Field since the day Mark and I had lunch with Billy [Beane] and Sandy [Alderson] in Arizona this past off season. We’ve taken every precaution possible, we are vaccinated and boosted, all in efforts to keep our kids, our family and friends healthy but there’s a lot out of our control now. I’m thankful that Mark is doing fine and we hope to be able to come watch our favorite guy do his thing on the baseball field soon. We appreciate all the love Mets fans have shown US, Time to get that first home win.”
Earlier in the day, New York released the lineup for its contest against the Diamondbacks, and did not list either Nimmo or Canha, their starting center fielder and left fielder. Instead, Travis Jankowski and Jeff McNeil are expected to start in their places, respectively.
It remains unclear how long both players will be out of the lineup. In the first week of the season, Canha, who also missed the season opener, has compiled eight hits and three RBIs in 21 at-bats. Nimmo has recorded eight hits and two RBIs in 24 at-bats in six games played.
The Mets’ series against the Diamondbacks will continue Saturday and Sunday before the club hosts the Giants for a four-game homestand starting Monday. New York is 5–2 entering Friday’s game and currently in first place in the NL East.
