Rod Sox pitcher to miss rest of season due to COVID-19 complications

Major League Baseball has had another sobering reminder of the scary long-term implications from COVID-19.

Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez will miss the remainder of the MLB season as he attempts to recover from a heart issue. The team’s opening day starter has been diagnosed with myocarditis.

Rodriquez tested positive for COVID-19 several weeks ago before camp began, he was cleared to resume workouts with the team July 18th. Just a week later an MRI revealed that he had myocarditis — which is an inflammation of the heart.

Understandably, Americans want their sports back, but it can become easy to forget just how serious this pandemic is and the risk it presents for all the people involved.

When a healthy professional athlete is still struggling to recover from the virus it quickly makes you stop and think about the very real risks that players across various sports are taking.

There is no doubt that they love the game they play but putting their health at risk is a big ask considering Major League Baseball appears to be struggling mightily to execute their restart plan. This week numerous games were canceled after positive tests were piling up across the league, most notably, the Miami Marlins who saw a huge spike in cases.

After a week of turmoil for baseball the situation with Eduardo Rodriguez just adds another element of concern.

As decisions are being made about NCAA football it is situations like this that are being taken into consideration before final plans are locked in. Rodriguez is a healthy 27 year old and appears that he will still have a battle ahead to fully recover from COVID-19. So it is unfair and irresponsible to expect athletes to put their health at-risk this fall.

So far the news has been mostly positive in regards to COVID testing among NCAA football teams. Hopefully they can continue to execute their individual plans so the idea of a season can charge forward.