The Philadelphia Phillies/Toronto Blue Jays weekend series set for Citizens Bank Park has been postponed, as two more Phillies employees tested positive today for the COVID-19 virus.
No players have yet tested positive; the two staff members that did test positive are a coach staff and member of the home clubhouse staff. These positives were recorded after a member of the visiting clubhouse staff tested positive earlier in the week, as the testing may reveal a spread of the COVID-19 virus from the visiting Miami Marlins. Upon the news of today’s test results the Phillies canceled workouts and immediately closed Citizens Bank Park, with a Saturday doubleheader and Sunday matinee canceled.
The news comes after Miami Marlins games had been suspended at least through the weekend after 17 players and two coaches tested positive for the coronavirus while on the road playing the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Marlins, by the way, are quarantined in a Philadelphia hotel under MLB’s COVID-19 protocols.
With these cancelations, the Phillies now have seven postponed games to make up in the remaining 56 days of the season–not necessarily impossible with off days and doubleheaders available, but it certainly does not leave much room for error.
According to ESPN, the positives have forced MLB to change its COVID-19 protocols by encouraging players not to leave hotels in road cities except for games, mandating the use of surgical masks instead of cloth masks during travel, and requiring compliance officers to travel with teams to ensure players and staff properly follow the league protocols.
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