The Nationals and Yankees face off tonight in the first regular season game of the 2020 baseball season. But one star will be missing it.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, Juan Soto will be missing the game as he has tested positive for COVID-19. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo announced that Soto is asymptomatic. Soto has tested negative multiple times throughout last several weeks, but can’t be cleared until he tests negative again.

Rizzo also noted that Soto was tested on Tuesday before playing against the Orioles and then the positive result was found out on Thursday morning.

This news is surprising, as two hours prior, MLB Stats tweeted out about how Soto is ready for the game.

 

Soto was previously quarantined for 14 days of summer camp as he was in contact with someone who had COVID-19. However, at that time, he had tested negative for it.

In 2019, Soto hit .282/.401/.545. He reached base in all seven World Series games and was considered by many to be the breakout start of last season’s playoffs.

Soto being out is definitely a hit to the Nationals, but as we are in the midst of a pandemic, this is a non-negotiable. We hope that Soto has a mild case and recovers quickly.