Salt Lake City doesn’t have an MLB team, but it’s now the league’s most important city
Texas Rangers-
By Jeff Wilson
Published: July 1, 2020
The first significant task for the Texas Rangers ahead of spring training 2.0 and the 2020 MLB season is underway.
Many of the 55 members of the club’s player pool have started what the 2020 operating manual calls intake testing, which is fancy talk for administering COVID-19 tests and taking blood samples for antibody tests.
All on-field personnel and those who will come in contact with on-field personnel — baseball calls them covered individuals — must report for testing no later than Wednesday.
That’s a lot of tests, between 1,600-1,800 just for players, who then must wait in quarantine 24-48 hours until the results are back.
The first full-squad workout is scheduled for Friday, but, depending on the test results, it might not feature the full squad.
“I’m hoping that we’re OK,” manager Chris Woodward said. “But I think throughout baseball, we’re going to see, obviously, a few positives. We’re going to have to deal with that when it happens.”
But there’s much more to the testing than meets the eye.
For instance, the samples are sent via overnight mail to Salt Lake City. Yes, the one in Utah.
That goes for all tests across baseball, not just the Rangers’ samples.
Why Salt Lake City? That’s the home of the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL), which is converting a portion of its anti-doping lab to handle COVID-19 testing for the league.
MLB wanted only one lab to do the majority of the testing so as to not take away from local facilities handling cases of the general public around the rest of the country.
Not every test during spring training or the season will go to Utah, but most will. A smaller number of other cities throughout the league will also be used.
Players will be required to keep their saliva in their mouths at all times. | PHOTO: LOUIS DELUCA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Salt Lake City doesn’t have an MLB team, but it’s now the league’s most important city
Texas Rangers-
By Jeff Wilson
Published: July 1, 2020
The first significant task for the Texas Rangers ahead of spring training 2.0 and the 2020 MLB season is underway.
Many of the 55 members of the club’s player pool have started what the 2020 operating manual calls intake testing, which is fancy talk for administering COVID-19 tests and taking blood samples for antibody tests.
All on-field personnel and those who will come in contact with on-field personnel — baseball calls them covered individuals — must report for testing no later than Wednesday.
That’s a lot of tests, between 1,600-1,800 just for players, who then must wait in quarantine 24-48 hours until the results are back.
The first full-squad workout is scheduled for Friday, but, depending on the test results, it might not feature the full squad.
“I’m hoping that we’re OK,” manager Chris Woodward said. “But I think throughout baseball, we’re going to see, obviously, a few positives. We’re going to have to deal with that when it happens.”
But there’s much more to the testing than meets the eye.
For instance, the samples are sent via overnight mail to Salt Lake City. Yes, the one in Utah.
That goes for all tests across baseball, not just the Rangers’ samples.
Why Salt Lake City? That’s the home of the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL), which is converting a portion of its anti-doping lab to handle COVID-19 testing for the league.
MLB wanted only one lab to do the majority of the testing so as to not take away from local facilities handling cases of the general public around the rest of the country.
Not every test during spring training or the season will go to Utah, but most will. A smaller number of other cities throughout the league will also be used.
Players will be required to keep their saliva in their mouths at all times. | PHOTO: LOUIS DELUCA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
MLB picks Spectrum Solutions saliva collect kit
So, which test will be used? MLB has opted for the Spectrum Solutions saliva collect kit, though covered individuals might be subjected to the horrific-looking nasal test in which a long swab is pushed through a nostril into the sinuses. Deep into the sinuses.
Spectrum Solutions is the manufacturer and supplier of the first FDA-authorized saliva test. A covered individual will drop a fairly hefty supply of saliva into a tube. The tube is then sealed, which releases a stabilizing solution, and shaken for five seconds to get the sufficient saliva-solution mixture.
Any guess as to where Spectrum Solutions is based? In Draper, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City.
SMRTL is just up the road.
SMRTL, by the way, is also going to handle all private health information, in accordance with local laws and the federal biggie, HIPAA.
That leads to another question: Will MLB or its teams reveal if a player tests positive?
“That’s a great question,” a Rangers official said.
Teams reveal injuries during the season, either in discussing why a player will be out of the lineup a few days or the reason a player has hit the injury list.
Clubs will also update media on injuries at spring training, where there isn’t an IL. Some are small, but some are not — take Willie Calhoun’s broken jaw of a few months ago, for instance.
But MLB might have to consult with the MLB Players Association on how to reveal the results of players who test positive, especially for spring training. The union could convince players to waive their HIPAA rights.
Media will have limited access and won’t be able to tell if all players take part in the workout. There will be a COVID-19 injury list during the season, though the media might only be told an infected player is on the IL.
However, absent players will be easier to track.
An infected player, or any covered individual, will be in quarantine somewhere. If a Rangers player tests positive while on a road trip to, say, Colorado, he will stay in Colorado — where he should try Pietra’s (take out, of course) in Wheat Ridge for a delicious pizza or sausage pie — until declared COVID-free.
As Woodward said, players are going to test positive for COVID-19, whether on the Rangers or one of the other 29 teams.
Salt Lake City will be a busy place.
Bill Phillips, COO of Spectrum Solutions, left, and Stephen Fanning, CEO of Spectrum Solutions holding an SDNA-1000 saliva collection kit. ©Spectrum Solutions™ | Photo Credit: Leslie Titus Bryant
MLB picks Spectrum Solutions saliva collect kit
So, which test will be used? MLB has opted for the Spectrum Solutions saliva collect kit, though covered individuals might be subjected to the horrific-looking nasal test in which a long swab is pushed through a nostril into the sinuses. Deep into the sinuses.
Spectrum Solutions is the manufacturer and supplier of the first FDA-authorized saliva test. A covered individual will drop a fairly hefty supply of saliva into a tube. The tube is then sealed, which releases a stabilizing solution, and shaken for five seconds to get the sufficient saliva-solution mixture.
Any guess as to where Spectrum Solutions is based? In Draper, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City.
SMRTL is just up the road.
SMRTL, by the way, is also going to handle all private health information, in accordance with local laws and the federal biggie, HIPAA.
That leads to another question: Will MLB or its teams reveal if a player tests positive?
“That’s a great question,” a Rangers official said.
Teams reveal injuries during the season, either in discussing why a player will be out of the lineup a few days or the reason a player has hit the injury list.
Clubs will also update media on injuries at spring training, where there isn’t an IL. Some are small, but some are not — take Willie Calhoun’s broken jaw of a few months ago, for instance.
But MLB might have to consult with the MLB Players Association on how to reveal the results of players who test positive, especially for spring training. The union could convince players to waive their HIPAA rights.
Media will have limited access and won’t be able to tell if all players take part in the workout. There will be a COVID-19 injury list during the season, though the media might only be told an infected player is on the IL.
However, absent players will be easier to track.
An infected player, or any covered individual, will be in quarantine somewhere. If a Rangers player tests positive while on a road trip to, say, Colorado, he will stay in Colorado — where he should try Pietra’s (take out, of course) in Wheat Ridge for a delicious pizza or sausage pie — until declared COVID-free.
As Woodward said, players are going to test positive for COVID-19, whether on the Rangers or one of the other 29 teams.
Salt Lake City will be a busy place.
Bill Phillips, COO of Spectrum Solutions, left, and Stephen Fanning, CEO of Spectrum Solutions holding SDNA-1000 saliva collection kit. ©Spectrum Solutions™ | Photo Credit: Leslie Titus Bryant
Noninvasive
Saliva Diagnostics
This changes everything!
Health is a dynamic state of well-being. Healthcare providers and researchers have long believed that changes in our saliva record our ongoing state-of-health story. Interestingly, saliva acts as a wide resource of genomic information useful for identifying and monitoring in real-time a disease as well as its state of progression. Saliva analysis looks at the cellular level, the biologically active compounds, making it a true representative of what is clinically relevant.
Spectrum’s technically-superior saliva collection systems have not only been engineered to lead the saliva collection industry in molecular diagnostics and clinical research applications but deliver the safest, most robust biomaterial for the earliest detection and diagnosis of disease and infection.
Noninvasive
Saliva Diagnostics
This changes everything
Health is a dynamic state of well-being. Healthcare providers and researchers have long believed that changes in our saliva record our ongoing state-of-health story. Interestingly, saliva acts as a wide resource of genomic information useful for identifying and monitoring in real-time a disease as well as its state of progression. Saliva analysis looks at the cellular level, the biologically active compounds, making it a true representative of what is clinically relevant.
Spectrum’s technically-superior saliva collection systems have not only been engineered to lead the saliva collection industry in molecular diagnostics and clinical research applications but deliver the safest, most robust biomaterial for the earliest detection and diagnosis of disease and infection.
Bringing Baseball Back!
How you collect saliva makes a big
diagnostic difference
Increase workplace safety and build team confidence with simple and safe repeat testing programs supporting 100% accurate early detection and easy direct-to-user at-home options. Just ask the MLB, real-world, mass testing scenarios require an authorized, proven, and supported system that mitigates any risk of exposure. See how our saliva collection system is credited for “bringing baseball back” and making Salt Lake “the league’s most important city”.
™/© 2020 MLB
Bringing Baseball Back!
How you collect saliva makes a big
diagnostic difference
Increase workplace safety and build team confidence with simple and safe repeat testing programs supporting 100% accurate early detection and easy direct-to-user at-home options. Just ask the MLB, real-world, mass testing scenarios require an authorized, proven, and supported system that mitigates any risk of exposure. See how our saliva collection system is credited for “bringing baseball back” and making Salt Lake “the league’s most important city”.
™/© 2020 MLB
Why Spectrum?
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Spectrum Solutions® is a clinical science innovation leader and a specialized laboratory test ideation and commercialization partner. Our patented, noninvasive, and multi-omic specimen collection and preservation capabilities are setting new standards of modernized care for patients, providers, and laboratories in the testing, managing, and treatment of disease.
We believe when you bridge the gap between science and real direct-to-patient medical solutions you deliver innovation with the practical power to impact and change outcomes. Learn more Spectrum Medical Science SM, Spectrum Compounding Pharmacy TM, and Spectrum Clinical Manufacturing SM.
Spectrum Corporate Spokesman
Leslie Titus Bryant
Head of Marketing & Brand
admin@spectrumsolution.com
Media Contact
Tim Rush, Springboard5
801-208-1100
tim.rush@springboard5.com
Why Spectrum?
Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, Spectrum Solutions® is a clinical science innovation leader and a specialized laboratory test ideation and commercialization partner. Our patented, noninvasive, and multi-omic specimen collection and preservation capabilities are setting new standards of modernized care for patients, providers, and laboratories in the testing, managing, and treatment of disease.
We believe when you bridge the gap between science and real direct-to-patient medical solutions you deliver innovation with the practical power to impact and change outcomes. Learn more Spectrum Medical Science SM, Spectrum Compounding Pharmacy TM, and Spectrum Clinical Manufacturing SM.
Spectrum Corporate Spokesman
Leslie Titus Bryant
Head of Marketing & Brand
admin@spectrumsolution.com
Media Contact
Tim Rush, Springboard5
801-208-1100
tim.rush@springboard5.com
Outside-of-the-Box Thinking, Inside-of-the-Box Innovation
Anywhere from customized testing solutions to new medical science product innovations–we’re here to help.