Mets pitcher vents against COVID testing

Not one to mince words, New York Mets starting pitcher Chris Bassitt says he regrets being placed on the COVID-19 list and missing a scheduled start while not suffering from any health issues.

Bassitt was placed on the COVID-19 list on July 1 after complaining about feeling sluggish and testing positive. The right-hander then missed his scheduled start against Texas on Friday and rejoined the team Thursday. Bassitt claimed he was asymptomatic the entire time.

Upon his return to the team, the pitcher made it clear that if he is concerned that he might have COVID in the future, he simply won’t report it.

“I probably won’t (again),” Bassitt said Thursday. “There’s no way. There’s no reason.”

“Stop testing it,” Bassit said when asked for a solution to this issue. “Stop acting like COVID is far worse than other things. I don’t want to get too much into it, but I was never sick. I never had a symptom. So I’m sitting out for two weeks, possibly a week, for zero symptoms. I don’t know.

“Now they’re coming out saying you could get tested, get a positive test for possibly a month. So we gotta miss multiple times? I guess the answer is I shouldn’t have said anything. … I probably won’t for the rest of my career. There’s no way. There’s no reason.”

Bassitt said he had a choice to either tell his positive results and protect his teammates or not say anything at all and put his teammates in danger. This time, at least, he chose the former.

“Having a little girl at home, if I can somewhat be safe, I will. I tested myself. It was positive. I basically had the choice to tell them and protect my teammates or not say anything and put my teammates at risk,” Bassitt said. “But, I mean, I never had a symptom. Woke up next day, perfectly fine. Hadn’t had a symptom since. I don’t know if I made the right decision or not.”

The Mets are in a battle with the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East with the New Yorkers only ahead by 2.5 games in the standings.

{Audacy)