March 17th, 2020 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka As of this writing and according to CNN Health, there have been 173,344 confirmed cases and 7,019 known deaths worldwide as a result of the current coronavirus pandemic. (Note: By the time you read this, these numbers will undoubtedly have increased). Fortunately, no current Dodgers players have contracted this extremely contagious disease; not yet anyway.
However, there have been several Dodgers who have been directly victimized by COVID-19.
Now I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking how can you be a victim of this highly contagious disease without having actually contacted it, right?
The answer to this is actually rather simple.
Aside from the obvious of being forced into ‘social distancing’ (as are the rest of us), major league baseball’s decision to completely shut down every aspect of the game due to the coronavirus outbreak will prevent several Dodger players who were clearly having the absolute best Spring Training camps of their respective careers from being able to carry their remarkable Spring Training successes into the 2020 regular season … if there will even be a 2020 regular season.
Topping this list is future Hall of Fame left-hander Clayton Kershaw who, for the first time in several Springs, is (was) 100 percent healthy and back to being the brilliant lights-out Clayton Kershaw that we all know and love. In fact, in his combined 4.2 innings pitched in his two Spring Training starts, the soon-to-be (on Thursday) 32-year-old Dallas, TX native, eight-time All-Star and three-time National League Cy Young award winner allowed zero runs and only two hits, while walking two and striking out eight of the 18 total batters he faced.
Lights out indeed.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
Next on this list has to be 25-year-old Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager who, like Kershaw, battled his way back from a series of very significant injuries and is (was) again 100 percent healthy, and it showed. In the 10 Spring Training games in which the Charlotte, NC native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2012 appeared, he slashed a remarkable .385/.448/.577/1.025, while slugging two doubles, one home run and driving in three. It was blatantly obvious that the former NL Rookie of the Year and two-time All-Star was on pace to have the best season of his short five-year MLB career.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
Next up has to be longtime Dodgers back-up catcher Austin Barnes who, quite frankly, knocked off rookie phenom catcher Will Smith to be the Dodgers Opening Day (and every day) catcher. In the nine games in which the Fullerton, CA native appeared, the former Arizona State Sun Devil posted a very impressive .333/.462/.571/1.033 slash line, while also hitting two doubles, one home run and driving in three; this compared to Smith’s less-than-stellar .143/.280/.238/.518 slash line. Barnes also threw out one would-be base stealer from behind the plate this Spring.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
Although 25-year-old Dodgers outfield prospect Cody Thomas has never played above the Double-A level within the Dodgers minor league system, he was clearly the MVP of Dodgers Spring Training 2020 before its premature end due to COVID-19. In the 12 Spring Training in which the Colleyville, TX native and former quarterback at Oklahoma State University appeared, he slashed an alien-like .318/.333/1.091/1.424 with a Cactus League-leading five home runs and 11 RBI. In fact, during a Spring Training game against the Colorado Rockies on February 29, the 6′-4″/211-pound outfielder hit two home runs … in the same inning.
And during a game against the Chicago White Sox on February 24, Thomas made what was arguably the greatest defensive play of the Spring when he took away what would have been a game-winning home run from White Sox outfield prospect Blake Rutherford with a spectacular over-the-wall catch. Unfortunately, we will never know if what Thomas had done during his remarkable Spring would have carried over into the regular season had he made it onto the Dodgers 2020 Opening Day roster.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
I would be remiss if I did not include oft-troubled Dodgers right-handed reliever Pedro Baez on this list of coronavirus victims. In his four Spring Training games and 4.0 innings pitched, the 32-year-old Bani, Dominican Republic native did not allow a run and gave up only three hits to the combined 15 batters he faced while striking out seven of them. By all appearances, Baez had regained the confidence that led to him being called up to the Bigs back in 2014.
(Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)
Oh, what might have been.
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Posted in 
I’m just hoping that this Coronavirus stoppage has very little affect on the Dodgers’ performances. The best scenario is that it will not change anything. It looks like it will be a long layoff.
I don’t see how a long layoff won’t change things.
A 6-week-old baby died in the United States from COVID-19 and was the youngest victim of coronavirus in the world.
“A 6-week-old newborn from the Hartford area in United State was brought unresponsive to a hospital late last week and had died from COVID-19 .” He was the youngest victim of coronavirus in the world.
“It is a sadness that breaks my heart,” said the governor of the state of Connecticut. In Chicago, a 9-month-old boy had already died from COVID-19 earlier.