Indians' Zach Plesac rips media after violation of MLB safety protocols

Per 92.3 The Fan, Plesac said: 

"The media is really terrible, man. The media is terrible. They do some evil things to create stories and make things sound better, to make things sound worse. Truthfully, I’m disgusted the way the media has handled this whole situation surrounding our team.”

He added: 

"Ten people or less is considered a very safe gathering, especially if you’re six feet apart. And that entire night at dinner and hanging out at my buddy’s place after, we were not with more than eight people the entire night. So the media is portraying me and my best friend and teammate to be malicious with our actions when we were really – not justifying what we did, because we left the hotel and according to new rules, we weren’t supposed to leave – but according to the CDC and guidelines with corona, we were practicing safe practices in a small group with people who we know had been tested and came back to our curfew late, which was 10 p.m.

"Clearly, we’ve been exposed as being bad teammates, bad people and dragged across the mud, you know? So it’s hard to sit here and watch how things shuffle out, people not knowing the truth. I wanted to kind of voice my opinion. I understand that there are risks people are taking to play this game, and the last thing I would want to do is put anybody at risk – the last thing I’d want to do. My little brother has type-1 diabetes, my mom’s a nurse – I understand the significance of this illness and this disease. I know how important it is that we must follow certain procedures and guidelines to ensure safety for the entirety of a group.

"It breaks my heart for people to think I’m a bad teammate or a bad person. But I wanted to share with you guys that moving forward, there’s a selflessness lesson taught here. At the end of the day, I want everybody to be healthy. I want to be a good teammate. I want to win baseball games, man. That’s all I want to do. Whatever it takes for me to get back on that diamond and start shoving it up people, trust me, I’ll be ready when they need me."

Regardless of any measures the players may have taken in Chicago, they blatantly and intentionally violated rules agreed upon by MLB and the MLB Players Association before the season began on July 23. 

It's unknown when Plesac and Clevinger will be cleared to return to club activities. 

Adam Plutko, who started in place of Clevinger against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday, ripped his teammates while speaking with the media.