Matt Davidson says he never had COVID-19, explains why he was placed in the protocol

DETROIT – Matt Davidson was on the injured list for a week because he tested positive for COVID-19, but he wants to clear things up: He never had it.

After playing on Opening Day last week, Davidson said he showed a couple of symptoms when he returned home around midnight. He reported his symptoms to the Cincinnati Reds’ medical staff on Saturday morning.

When a player reports symptoms, according to the league’s operations manual, he will take an expedited diagnostic test for COVID-19 at a local health care facility and then provide a confirmatory saliva sample through the league.

Davidson tested positive on the diagnostic test, but he said he tested negative on all tests afterward. He was…