SF Giants INF Donovan Solano tests positive for COVID-19

The SF Giants received some worrisome news on Thursday surrounding infielder Donovan Solano. The Giants quietly recalled infielder Thairo Estrada from Triple-A and placed Solano on the COVID-19 list prior to Thursday’s 3-2 victory over the New York Mets. In a videoconference with reporters following the game, manager Gabe Kapler confirmed that Solano was dealing with cold-like symptoms and had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Assuming he did not have a single false-positive test, Solano will likely be out for at least a week.

The SF Giants recalled Thairo Estrada and placed Donovan Solano

Solano was one of the best hitters in the Giants lineup from 2019-2020 and won a Silver Slugger last season. However, the 33-year old infielder has failed to match his previous levels of production this season, racking up 16 doubles and six home runs with a .275/.333/.394 triple-slash across 90 games.

The Giants are one of the most vaccinated teams in MLB, eclipsing the 85% vaccine threshold several months ago early in the regular season, which limits the restrictions on the rest of the team and those who have had close contact with Solano. However, while the Giants organization should be less impacted by a single positive COVID-19 case because of their high vaccination rate that doesn’t mean they have nothing to worry about. Vaccines are undeniably effective at preventing the spread and severity of COVID-19 cases, but our understanding of breakthrough cases remains relatively limited. Earlier this week, the CDC director acknowledged that vaccinated people can still spread the virus.

It’s possible that SF Giants infielder Donovan Solano coincidentally has a cold alongside a false-positive COVID-19 test. However, assuming he does have the novel coronavirus, hopefully, he only has a mild case and does not spread it to other people.