Cleveland Indians pitchers Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger violated team rules when they both left the team hotel in Chicago to have a night out with friends after the team’s win against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. Because of that, both players have been punished by the Indians as they try not to have a COVID-19 outbreak. The Indians sent Plesac back to Cleveland in a car service while everyone else flew on the team plane, including Clevinger. ESPN reported that the team didn’t know Clevinger was out with Plesac. Clevinger is currently in quarantine and will miss his start on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs.
“I realize I made a poor choice to leave the hotel, which broke protocols and could have endangered other people,” Plesac said in a statement via ESPN. “I understand that in these times of uncertainty, I need to be more vigilant and responsible, and I am determined to earn my teammates’ forgiveness and get back to work.” Plesac is currently isolated from the team and can’t return until he tests negative twice. On Sunday, the Indians held a team meeting to discuss the Plesac situation. Pitcher Shane Bieber said the team loves Plesac, “but he screwed up.” He also said they will “handle this in house, and we’ll see where it goes from here.”
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Plesac and Clevinger have been reliable members of the strong Indians pitching staff. Last month, Plesac talked about doing what they can to keep themselves and their teammates as healthy as possible during the pandemic.
“There are common sense situations, where you see things are packed, or going out to the bars and drinking – doing stuff like that isn’t stuff that’s really important to us right now and shouldn’t be important to us right now,” Plesac said. “We’re given this privilege to be able to come back and play and given this short window to even play.” As for Clevinger, he said he was all about holding players accountable for their actions off the field.
“This isn’t going to be a ‘run to daddy’ kind of thing. We’re going to handle it in-house. This is a player discipline thing. Keep the coaches, front office kind of out of it,” he said on July 30. “It puts a little extra accountability, kind of. Just having that trust in your teammates is a big thing.
