Houston Astros right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. disagreed with his team playing against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday after five players were placed on the injured list due to health and safety protocols.
"I was dealing with a lot today," McCullers said, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart. "I don't really understand why we played tonight, quite honestly. Seems like the rules are different for different teams, depending on who it is, based off the COVID issues. Lots of questions and things we have to get figured out as a team. Hopefully, in the next few days, we do."
The Astros placed Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Martin Maldonado, and Robel Garcia on the IL before Wednesday's contest.
Astros general manager James Click was in close contact with Major League Baseball about playing the game before it began.
"They don't believe there is a health and safety reason not to play," Click said.
The Astros wound up losing 6-4 to the Tigers as McCullers allowed six earned runs across 3 2/3 innings. The pitcher said he felt sick during the game and received an IV.
McCullers added he recently received Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine and has felt ill for a few days since.
"I'll just say we felt that it would have been better if we weren't out there today," McCullers said. "I think it would have been the smartest thing today (to not play), but we were overruled."
A similar situation happened to the Washington Nationals earlier this season when a group of players had to stay away from the team due to health and safety protocols.
Washington had four games postponed after four players tested positive for COVID-19, while five others were put into quarantine for contact-tracing reasons.
