MESSAGE DELIVERED
Tim Kurkjian weighs in on if the MLB season will be canceled and Joe Kelly’s suspension
Aug 4, 2020, 11:46 am
MESSAGE DELIVERED
It seems like every single day there is a new update on player testing positive for the Coronavirus. After a team outbreak on the Miami Marlins and new positive tests on the St. Louis Cardinals, it feels like the baseball season could be on the brink of being canceled by Rob Manfred if things do not get better fast.
ESPN MLB reporter and analyst Tim Kurkjian joined The Jake Asman Show on SportsMap Radio Monday to discuss this situation. Kurkjian presented a bleak outlook when asked if he thinks MLB will complete its season.
"I don't think we are going to make it through," Kurkjian said. "The game is in turmoil and it should be given what it is up against, a pandemic like we have never seen before. My guess is that if we have another outbreak like the Marlins or even like the Cardinals then that might be enough to say the schedule is too messed up, the integrity of the game is in question but most important the health and safety of all people around the game is in question, so that might be enough to say 'alright we aren't going to play' but that is a very difficult decision the commissioner does not want to make."
Multiple reports seem to indicate that several Marlins players went out to a bar and broke MLB's protocol as did a few of the Cardinals when they reportedly went to a casino on their road trip. Is it fair to blame the players if the season ends up getting canceled?
"I think the bottom line is when this started, we were asking a bunch of young guys in their early 20s to show discipline and restraint that maybe they haven't shown their whole life," Kurkjian said. "That was a challenge to begin with and obviously some mistakes have been made but to blame the players for this entirely I'm not sure that is fair either."
When asked about the recent altercation between Joe Kelly of the Dodgers and the Astros, Kurkjian said he wasn't surprised a player went after the Astros but knew that baseball was trying to send a message by suspending Kelly for eight games.
"Even though eight games was a harsh penalty, I think it was Major League Baseball saying 'we have to send a message,' Kurkjian said. "MLB is trying to social distance in the middle of a pandemic and the last thing they need is a brawl, a dustup of any kind. To me this was baseball through Joe Kelly telling everyone 'we're not putting up with this.'
I asked @Kurkjian_ESPN on the @JakeAsmanShow for his confidence level in MLB completing its season and I didn't get the answer I was hoping to hear... pic.twitter.com/qjRzacHl0J
— Jake Asman (@JakeAsman) August 3, 2020
You can listen to The Jake Asman Show weekdays from 8 AM -10 AM Central on SportsMap Radio.
You can listen to the full interview with Tim Kurkjian below:
Luis Severino struck out eight in seven innings and Luis Urias homered to lead the Athletics to a 5-2 victory over the AL West-leading Houston Astros on Thursday night.
Severino (4-11) allowed four hits and two earned runs as the A’s snapped a four-game skid. Mason Miller earned his 20th save.
Urias hit his eighth homer in the sixth inning and finished with two hits. Nick Kurtz went 3 for 5 with an RBI double in the two-run fourth inning. Max Schuemann also knocked in a run in the inning on a fielder’s choice grounder.
Christian Walker drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field and Victor Caratini scored on a groundout by Cam Smith — all in the seventh inning — for the Astros, who had their four-game winning streak halted.
Jason Alexander (1-1), a former member of the Athletics who was claimed off waivers in May, allowed five earned runs and 11 hits in six innings. The 32-year-old right-hander finished with three strikeouts and two walks.
Carlos Cortes made his MLB debut for the A’s and went 1 for 3. He had a sacrifice fly, single and scored a run.
The Astros went 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position.
Athletics LHP Jeffery Springs (8-7) will go in the second game of the four-game series. The Astros have not announced a starter.