Twins' Willians Astudillo tests positive for COVID-19

Utilityman Willians Astudillo has tested positive for COVID-19, the Twins announced today. Dan Hayes of The Athletic was among those covering the news on Twitter.

Fortunately, it does not appear as if Astudillo has had a worrying reaction to the disease to this point. He’s said to be symptom-free at the moment.

The Twins reported three other players have active coronavirus infections. Edwar Colina and Nick Gordon are among them, having previously tested positive. Both are in the 60-man player pool; Gordon is on the 40-man. Neither player has made his MLB debut.

There’s also a fourth, unnamed player who, like Astudillo, tested positive at intake. Evidently, that player, has not assented to public disclosure.

It would certainly be unfortunate should the Twins open the season without Astudillo. He’s one of the game’s most offbeat players — and not only because of his barrel-chested figure and high-energy approach to the game. Astudillo is not just bemusing but also legitimately interesting as a player, owing to his blend of positional versatility (including catcher, his primary position) and unusual proclivity to put the ball in play (career 2.3% walk rate, 3.7% strikeout rate). Even though he was not as effective last season as he was in his brief 2018 debut, Astudillo was and is expected to be an important part of the Minnesota roster this year.