The Miami Marlins could be back in action as early as Wednesday. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Could Marlins resume play on Wednesday despite coronavirus outbreak?

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 7/27/20

The Miami Marlins could be back in action as early as Wednesday.

On the same day that Miami's home opener versus the Baltimore Orioles was called off due to a coronavirus outbreak within the Marlins organization, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred appeared on MLB Network and said that the Marlins could begin a scheduled two-game series in Baltimore on Wednesday if Miami's latest coronavirus test results are deemed "acceptable."

Commissioner Manfred sits down with Tom Verducci in Studio 21.

Tune in to MLB Tonight after the game for the full interview. pic.twitter.com/WnZx8q5U8q
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 27, 2020

Additionally, MLB canceled Monday's game between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies because the Phillies hosted the Marlins over the weekend. Per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, Manfred said that the league will offer updates on the Marlins and Phillies tomorrow:

Commissioner Rob Manfred said that he expects to have an initial set of Phillies & Marlins test results late tonight, and the league will give an update tomorrow.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) July 27, 2020

Commissioner Rob Manfred:

"We expected we were going to have positives at some point in time. I remain optimistic that the protocols are strong enough that it will allow us to play even through an outbreak like this and complete our season."
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) July 27, 2020

As of Monday night, the Marlins, Phillies, Yankees, and Orioles face "to be determined" scenarios. The Orioles returned to Baltimore from Miami on Monday.

During an appearance on the "Starkville" podcast, epidemiologist Dr. Zachary Binney explained that both the Marlins and Phillies should be shut down for at least five days to prevent the further spread of the virus among MLB personnel:

"And you need to wait because you could have ongoing transmission from cases that are newly discovered tomorrow or the next day. You could still have more come from chains of transmission from those people after that. So there’s no cure but time here, unfortunately.

“I don’t think MLB necessarily needs to scrap the season just yet. I think that would be a little bit of an overreaction. But they need to think very seriously about the results of the investigation in Miami and (decide) if this can be fixed, or if this is likely to be a one-off, or if it’s likely to happen again and again.

“I think that if you saw the situation in Miami repeated for another team, that’s when you’d have to think very seriously about suspending the season.”

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