DENVER - Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon, the first Major League Baseball player known to have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, returned to the club for his first workout Monday after being cleared to rejoin his teammates.
"I feel great. I have felt that way for at least a couple of weeks now," Blackmon, a four-time MLB All-Star - including the past three seasons - said on a video conference call with reporters before taking batting and fielding practice at Coors Field.
"It's nice to be back," added Blackmon, a high school and college star in Georgia before going to the big leagues. "I was getting kind of bored sitting there in the basement in quarantine by myself."
Blackmon said he was only mildly affected by the virus that has killed more than 130,000 Americans and claimed more than a half-million lives worldwide.
"I had a day and a half of symptoms, and after that I started feeling much better," said Blackmon, who hopes to be ready for the Rockies' July 24 opener on the road against the Texas Rangers.
Blackmon explained he "was blindsided" by the positive test result, having taken all the usual precautions with his family: sheltering at home, social distancing and wearing a face mask in public. He said he has no idea how he contracted the virus but was lucky not to get as sick as so many others.
"My symptoms were what I would consider mild flu symptoms," Blackmon explained. "I had a headache, I had a bit of a cough, and then I had some body aches. I just felt sick. But it only lasted for about 36 hours, and I would consider it mild compared to the flu. I had the flu proper a couple of years ago, and I thought that thing was going to wipe me out.
"And I'm lucky that my COVID experience was not nearly as severe" as many others who have been infected, Blackmon said. "And I know that it does affect everybody a little differently. But I would consider the symptoms that I felt to be minor."
Blackmon said he's just trying now to regain his physical fitness and added he doesn't foresee any long-term effects from the illness.
"This is a minor, minor glitch, a minor speed bump," he said. "It is not something that's going to throw me off. It's not something that I was scared of or that I'll be scared of for any of these guys in this locker room.
"I do think we'll be as safe as we can and try not to get it, but honestly, we went through a whole lot of trouble and did a lot of changing of our life and our country for something that wasn't that bad - in my experience. That doesn't mean that it won't be more serious for other people and that it hasn't been more serious for other people."
Rockies manager Bud Black said he hopes to have Blackmon available when the season begins in two weeks. If he isn't ready to play in the outfield, he might serve as Colorado's designated hitter to start.
"It's going to be close, but I'm optimistic, knowing Charlie," Black said. "We're going to watch him every single day to see how he's doing."