By Paresh Dave
FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Mexico’s Olympic baseball team will be without former Major League Baseball pitchers Hector Velazquez and Sammy Solis for the Tokyo Games after they tested positive for COVID-19, manager Benjamin Gil told Reuters on Friday.
The Mexico Olympic Committee had announced on Tuesday that the entire team were in a pre-departure quarantine awaiting further results after the two positives.
Gil said the rest of the team arrived in Tokyo on Friday “COVID-free”, but will need two new pitchers. Officials are waiting on testing and results before naming the replacements, he said.
Mexico is making its Olympics baseball debut in a six-team tournament that begins next week, and Gil told Reuters a few weeks ago that he expected pitching to be a strength for his squad.
A number of athletes in other sports have tested positive in recent days, forcing them to drop out of the Games before their competitions begin.
(Reporting by Paresh Dave; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
