Are the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres going to be able to play on Wednesday?

Before Tuesday’s game between the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres, the rain and sleet was not the primary factor that was putting the game in question.

In fact, it was Fernando Tatis, Jr’s. positive test for COVID-19. He was put on the 10-day IL for it and utilitymen Jurickson Profar and Jorge Mateo were also placed on the IL. They were placed on the IL not for testing positive for the virus but for contact tracing.

Pregame, when Padres manager Jayce Tingler spoke to the media, including Rox Pile, via Zoom, he said that Tatis, Jr. had not broken any rules or regulations and Tingler said that Tatis, Jr. was “mentally crushed” that he was going to be out for the virus and that he possibly was going to put the game in jeopardy.

They decided to play the game, though, but the Padres suffered more casualties due to the virus. Outfielder Wil Myers and first baseman Eric Hosmer, who both were in the game, as Myers tested positive and Hosmer is part of the contact tracing.

For Myers, he was removed before the third inning. Considering that he made a catch where he ran into the outfield, most people thought he was removed for an injury. Tingler even said postgame to the media, including Rox Pile, that he was concerned about Myers’ shoulder as well but then he dropped a bomb when he said that Myers had tested positive and Hosmer was out for contact tracing.

Hosmer was pulled before the bottom of the 7th inning.

But why didn’t the Padres know their test results before the Rockies-Padres game?

Before the game, Tingler explained that the Padres get tested every other day for COVID-19. Then, the tests are sent to a lab in Utah. That lab handles all of MLB’s tests. They, then, receive their results usually within “24 to 36 hours.”

For Tatis, Jr., Mateo, and Profar, Tingler indicated that he was informed “late, late (Monday) night” that there were positives.

We don’t know exactly why they didn’t find out with Myers and Hosmer until the middle of the game but the two most logical explanations are that it could have been part of the same round of testing that claimed Tatis, Jr. and took longer to get results on or it could have been from their next round of tests.

As of Tuesday night, none of the five Padres players that are out were reporting any symptoms, per Tingler. Myers spoke to the media, including Rox Pile, pregame after Tingler spoke and he was asymptomatic at that time.

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

But will the Rockies and Padres play on Wednesday?

The Rockies and Padres are slated to play two games on Wednesday to make up for Monday’s rainout. Will they play them? Only time will tell.

For what it’s worth, Jayce Tingler is “expecting to play” on Wednesday.

“We’re expecting to play tomorrow. We’re planning on playing a doubleheader tomorrow …” said Tingler after his team won on Friday.

He doubled down a moment later. “We’re planning on playing 14 innings tomorrow … so we’re going to be ready to play ball.”

So the Padres want to play, assuming nothing else happens (which that could happen, per Dennis Lin, who covers the Padres for The Athletic)

In addition, if the games come down to the choice of the umpires, the crew chief for the series is Joe West. MLB’s senior umpire by service time, who will turn 69 years of age, has been a noted skeptic of the virus. It will also cost him two of the 10 more games that he needs to become the all-time leader in MLB regular-season games umpired at 5,376 (Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem, who umpired from 1905 through 1940, worked 5,375 regular-season games).

In other words, unless the Rockies make the decision not to play, a decision is made by Rob Manfred or someone else from the Commissioner’s office, and the Padres don’t have anyone else subject to a positive test on contact tracing, don’t be surprised if both games of the doubleheader are played on Wednesday.

We will update this article and/or the site as well as our Twitter page with updates as we receive them.