What was the Cleveland Indians’ Zach Plesac thinking? Paul Hoynes

If Zach Plesac does not think the Indians are serious about not only getting through the covid season, but also trying to make something positive out if it, he knows now. Major League Baseball (MLB) security personnel caught him returning to the team’s hotel in Chicago early Sunday morning after going out with friends following his victory over the White Sox on Saturday afternoon. He needed permission to leave the hotel, something he did not receive.

MLB notified the Indians, who talked to Plesac on Sunday morning. The team hired a car service for him and told him to drive back to Cleveland. The team did not allow him to fly back with them after Sunday night’s game against the White Sox for fear of him infecting the team’s traveling party. He has told people close to him that he knows he made a mistake and takes responsibility for it.

It is safe to say the Indians are not pleased with Plesac at the moment. He issued statement through the team that he would like to apologize to his teammates, the entire Cleveland organization, and all of the team’s fans for his actions Saturday evening. He realized he made a poor choice to leave the hotel, which broke protocols and could have endangered other people.

Plesac understood that in these times of uncertainty, he needed to be more vigilant and responsible and he is determined to earn the Indians’ forgiveness and get back to work.

Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations, was a key member of the MLB committee that established protocols to try and get teams safely through the 60-game season. The league locked Franmil Reyes out of Spring Training II for three days for not wearing a mask at a Fourth of July party. The league has a few options with Plesac. The league could send him to its alternate training site at Classic Park in Eastlake or put him in the bullpen until it needs him again in the rotation.

MLB could fine Plesac. Or the league could do all three. The league will have time to sort things out because it will not need a fifth starter until August 22. He will have to be quarantined for at least 72 hours and test negative for the virus twice in a 48-hour period. He and his driver received point of care testing before they left for Cleveland. The Indians players wrote their own code of conduct before the start of the season.

Every team had to do it. Mike Clevinger, one of Plesac’s closest friends, described it as a thing they decided that was cool is that this is not going to be a ‘run to daddy’ kind of thing. Indians are going to handle it in-house. It will be a player-discipline thing. The team is going to keep the coaches and front office kind of out of it. It just puts a little extra accountability on players because having that trust in your teammates is a big thing.

It is a big thing for being on the field.

If you know your team does not trust you off the field, they are going to feel they can not trust you when you get between the lines. The Indians held a meeting about Plesac before the team’s 5-4 win over Chicago on Sunday night. The Indians decided it needed to concentrate on one thing at a time, that being the game, so whatever happens to him will be addressed in the coming days.

But it is clear this has gone beyond a players-only matter. Plesac is one-fifth of the best starting rotation in the American League. He threw six scoreless innings Saturday against the White Sox in a 7-1 win. He grew up in Crown Point, Indiana, which is about an hour’s drive from Guaranteed Rate Field. His family and friends could not come to the game because fans are not allowed in the ballpark.

But apparently Plesac’s family and friends still made the trip and wanted to celebrate the win. In this season of adjustments, sometimes the game is not the hardest thing. The hardest thing is saying no to family and friends, and putting the team and its goals for the season first. MLB has seen big outbreaks of the covid virus with the Cardinals and Marlins, outbreaks that have shut down their seasons and endangered the health of their players and staff.

Commissioner Rob Manfred and the MLBPA have implemented stricter rules regarding the conduct of teams’ behavior on an off the field.

Each team was required to appoint a compliance officer.