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One Phillies Coach, One Clubhouse Staffer Test Positive For COVID-19

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The Phillies announced today that one member of the coaching staff and one home clubhouse staff member have tested positive for COVID-19. No players registered positive tests. The club has cancelled its scheduled workouts indefinitely.

While it’s obviously possible that these infections occurred elsewhere, it is impossible to ignore the possibility that they came about during the series last weekend with a Marlins club that is now riddled with coronavirus infections. It had been hoped that the virus had been contained to the Miami organization.

The plan had been for the Phillies to resume play on Saturday. Whether that is now in jeopardy isn’t known. The organization has already dealt with some infections earlier this year, but managed to avoid further spread within the club.

This is worrisome news on several levels. First and foremost, it’s concerning to see two more individuals in the game carrying this disease. Hopefully they’ll both make a swift and full recovery.

Beyond that, it’s obviously concerning to see that spread (presumably) occurred between the teams. Fortunately, the Phillies have not had further contact with other organizations since the series against the Marlins. But it seems quite possible that other members of the Phillies organization could still be harboring infections that haven’t yet triggered positive tests. It’s also hypothetically possible that transmission could’ve occurred from the coach and staff member to others, though one would hope the team has exercised stringent caution over the past few days.

Latest On Marlins Outbreak And Its Ripple Effects

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The most recent wave of COVID-19 tests among the Marlins produced another positive player, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter). That brings the club’s total to an incredible 16 of the 33 players who traveled to Philadelphia for this past weekend’s series (the 30 on the roster plus a three-man taxi squad). The Marlins have also had two staff members test positive. Over at their alternate camp, every player tested negative on Tuesday, Craig Mish of SportsGrid reports (Twitter link).

The full list of Marlins players to have tested positive isn’t known, although MLB Network’s Jon Heyman added this morning that right-hander Sandy Alcantara is among the list. Speaking more generally, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets that the Marlins’ pitching staff has been hit particularly hard by this outbreak. As such, it’s not surprising to see that Miami has already claimed a trio of pitchers off waivers: Mike Morin, Justin Shafer and Josh D, Smith (not to be confused with Josh A. Smith, who is also with the Marlins as a non-roster player in alternate camp). Further additions for the Marlins seem quite likely.

For now, the Marlins remain in Philadelphia and are not yet certain when they’ll travel back to Florida, Jackson tweets. The hope is that they’ll be able to do so by Friday, but that situation remains fluid. As of right now, the Marlins aren’t slated to play again until next week, when they’re scheduled to host the Phillies, of all teams.

As for the Phillies, their entire roster and staff tested negative for a second consecutive day, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). In fact, Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal tweets that outside of yesterday’s Marlins positive, there wasn’t a positive test with any of the 29 other teams. That’s certainly welcome news, although the fact that new positives are still arising with the Marlins is problematic.

The Phillies, Rosenthal tweets, won’t play on Friday as had been previously expected but will instead play the Blue Jays in a Saturday doubleheader and a third game Sunday. The extra day gives the league a bit more time to take caution and hopefully ensure that none of the Phillies players or staff members were infected in last weekend’s series. It’s not known what would happen if the Phillies had a positive test (or tests) between now and Saturday, but they’ll continue to be tested daily in the interim.

Phillies Add Three To Player Pool

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The Phillies announced that they’ve added right-hander Adonis Medina, infielder/outfielder Austin Listi and infielder Bryson Stott to their 60-man player pool. All three will report to the club’s alternate training site.

Medina, 23, entered the 2019 season ranked among baseball’s best pitching prospects, but he struggled to a 4.94 ERA with 7.0 K/9 against 3.5 BB/9 in a pitcher-friendly Double-A setting last year, causing his stock to drop a bit. Armed with a mid-90s sinker that has typically generated above-average ground-ball rates and a well-regarded changeup, he’ll give the Phillies a relatively advanced arm to lean on for depth while also continuing to get some critical developmental reps with the rest of the player pool. Medina is already on the 40-man roster.

Listi, 26, has played all four corner positions in the Phillies’ minor league system. First base has been his most frequent position, but he has at least 323 innings at each of left field, right field and third base as well. Listi split the 2019 season between Double-A and Triple-A, batting a combined .252/.344/.434 with 19 home run, 24 doubles and a pair of triples in 545 plate appearances. He walked at a 10.5 percent clip and punched out in 19.4 percent of his plate appearances. Given his ability to handle multiple positions and his experience up through the Triple-A level, Listi could emerge as an option at the MLB level in 2020.

Stott, meanwhile, was the team’s first-round pick in 2019 and seems like much more of a long shot to be considered for the big leagues in 2020. The Phillies took a conservative approach with the UNLV product last year, assigning him to their Rookie-level affiliate and then short-season Class-A club — where as a first-round college bat he was much more advanced than most of his competition. Stott did what one would expect of an advanced bat in that setting, as he logged a strong .295/.391/.494 slash in 193 plate appearances. Even though he seems unlikely to be called up this year, Stott will benefit from simulated game reps and work with the team’s staff in Lehigh Valley.

Minor MLB Transactions: 7/28/20

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Some of the latest minor transactions from around baseball…

  • The Pirates selected left-hander Miguel Del Pozo on Tuesday, per a team announcement. The move accompanied injured list placements for two righties – Kyle Crick (lat muscle strain) and Clay Holmes (forearm strain) – as well as a recall for RHP Geoff Hartlieb. Del Pozo, who joined the Pirates on a minor league contract last offseason, was crushed in his major league debut with the Angels in 2019, when he allowed 11 earned runs on 10 hits in 9 1/3 innings. His woes continued Tuesday when he failed to retire any of the four Brewers he faced. Del Pozo walked three, gave up a double and was charged with two earned runs. The Pirates still came out on top, however, with Hartlieb as the winning pitcher.
  • The Phillies announced that infielder Arquimedes Gamboa has cleared waivers and been outrighted off their 40-man roster. The 22-year-old has been part of the organization since 2015, and he’ll remain a Phillie after no one else claimed him. Gamboa, who has topped out in Double-A ball, owns a .213/.298/.296 line in 1,621 plate appearances in the minors.

MLB Announces Scheduling Changes Following Marlins Outbreak

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Major League Baseball has formally announced a series of alterations to the upcoming schedule in the wake of the Marlins’ Covid-19 outbreak. The changes are as follows:

  • All Marlins games are postponed through Sunday. As a result, the Marlins aren’t expected to play until next Monday.
  • The remainder of this week’s Phillies-vs.-Yankees games have been postponed. As a result, the Phillies aren’t expected to play until Friday.
  • The Yankees and Orioles are now scheduled to play at Camden Yards on Wednesday and Thursday.
  • Additional scheduling alterations for the week of Aug. 3 will be announced by the league later this week.

Those alterations seemingly leave the Nationals without an opponent this coming weekend, as had been recently reported to be the case by Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Major League Baseball concluded its press release with the following statement:

The difficult circumstances of one Club reinforce the vital need to be diligent with the protocols in all ways, both on and off the field.  We will continue to bolster our protocols and make any necessary adjustments.  The realities of the virus still loom large, and we must operate with that in mind every day.  We are confident that Clubs and players will act appropriately, for themselves and for others, and the data provides reason to believe that the protocols can work effectively.

Notably, the release doesn’t address the bizarre scene on Sunday that saw Marlins players and field staff make the final call on playing — rather than a league official or health expert — even as positive tests piled up. Both shortstop Miguel Rojas and manager Don Mattingly said after the game that the team never gave strong consideration to calling off the game. It’s rather remarkable that the decision on whether to play that day fell the field level in the first place, however. Whether any alterations to that decision process will be implemented moving forward remains unclear.

MLB’s press release indicates that the other 29 teams have not had any new positive tests among on-field personnel since July 24. That would seem to clash with the Reds’ July 25 announcement that Matt Davidson has been placed on the IL following a positive Covid-19 test, though that test may have technically been conducted prior to the 24th. There have been several other players placed on the IL without a reason given, although that doesn’t ensure any have had a positive test. Teams are permitted to place players on the Covid-19 IL if they show symptoms or are exposed to someone known to have tested positive.

Marlins’ Season “Paused” As MLB Plots Scheduling Modifications

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1:45pm: In addition to the Phillies being paused through Friday and the Marlins being paused until Monday, the Orioles and Yankees are now indeed likely to play one another on Wednesday and Thursday, Sherman tweets. The Nationals, meanwhile, won’t have a game at all this weekend, since they’d been slated to play the Marlins.

1:26pm: The current plan is for the Marlins to be held out from playing until “at least” next Monday, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Incorporating doubleheaders and making use of some off-days could help to make up ground in the schedule, although with only a week’s worth of off-days worked into the existing schedule, there are some potential pitfalls with that approach as well.

12:58pm: The Phillies are expected to resume action against the Blue Jays on Friday, Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets.

12:52pm: The Marlins’ 2020 campaign has been “paused,” according to Craig Mish of Sports Grid (Twitter link). That development is part of an apparent effort on the part of Major League Baseball to tweak its schedule to account for the breakout of COVID-19 cases within the Miami organization.

With the Phillies also sidelined, at least for the short term, the league is left with two teams out of action. It’s considering a plan to match up those two organizations’ previously scheduled opponents — the Yankees and Orioles — in order to keep logging as many games as possible, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link).

While the Philadelphia organization doesn’t have any new positive tests to worry about, it recently took the field against the Marlins. The Phils will also be held back for at least some time as a result, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports (Twitter links).

The idea, it seems, would be to get the Marlins and Phillies caught up on total contests later in the season. If they don’t quite make it to 60 total games, postseason qualification could still be determined by winning percentage. It isn’t clear exactly what standards the league will apply to determine when to resume action for these teams.

This on-the-fly scheduling construction is obviously fraught with difficulty. Many problems could end up being kicked down the road, particularly if the Marlins have further difficulties or the breakout turns out to have expanded to other organizations.

Tuesday’s Game Between Phillies, Yankees Postponed

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9:18am: The Phillies are still planning to travel to New York to play at Yankee Stadium tomorrow, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia tweets. For the time being, the club will undergo a second round of testing today, The Athletic’s Matt Gelb reports on Twitter.

9:07am: The results that have come back have not included any new positive tests within the Philadelphia organization, Sherman tweets.

8:59am: Some Phillies test results are delayed, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic hears (Twitter link).

8:56am: Just like yesterday, today’s scheduled contest between the Phillies and Yankees has been scratched, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (via Twitter). The Philadelphia organization was sidelined after a weekend series against a Marlins team with at least 11 cases of COVID-19.

Unlike yesterday’s decision, this one was expected to come with the benefit of testing results. Those aren’t yet known, but it doesn’t seem promising that the game was scrapped after the lab work came back. It would be preferable, though hardly ideal in its own right, if testing delays were to blame.

This is a developing story …

Middleton On Pathways To Realmuto Deal

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The Phillies aren’t actively engaged in extension talks with star catcher J.T. Realmuto, but he hasn’t foreclosed the possibility of a longer-term relationship. Team owner John Middleton echoed that sentiment in a recent interview with Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Generally, Middleton continued to express great admiration for Realmuto and optimism about contract talks. The strong underlying relationship provides “a great basis to begin a negotiation,” says Middleton, who also said he has no issues with Bryce Harper’s less-than-subtle campaign for a Realmuto deal.

That said, there were strong undercurrents of baseball’s new realities in Middleton’s comments. For one thing, the just-cited quote rather clearly implies that the team believes that negotiations will need to start fresh in the new COVID-19 world we all live in.

Then, there’s the double-edged sword of the sizable new deal between the Dodgers and superstar Mookie Betts. Middleton lauded the “ingenious deal” for its “creativity” and suggested it could indeed be utilized in the Phillies’ case. “There’s no reason why not,” he said.

But the Phils owner also made clear that the Betts contract was in “reality … much less” than its advertised $365MM price. Betts and the Dodgers agreed upon a heavily deferred contract structure to smooth over the coronavirus-driven economic turmoil.

Middleton’s top baseball ops employee, GM Matt Klentak, recently referred to that wide-ranging uncertainty in discussing the team’s interest in a Realmuto deal. And the team owner used precisely the same terminology, explaining that the Betts deal “reflects the reality of the economic uncertainty that we find ourselves in today.”

The overarching message here seems to be that the Phillies see a pathway to a deal, but that it assuredly won’t be the one the Realmuto camp has long proposed. “I don’t feel pressure to make a deal one way or another,” Middleton noted. “I think you have to make a good deal.”

It’ll be interesting to see whether there’s any realistic attempt to forge an agreement before the 2020 season wraps up. No doubt both sides will want to know first whether the campaign is even going to make it through to the postseason, as that’ll be a key revenue generator and major factor in projecting near-future earnings. Though both team and player clearly maintain interest in an ongoing relationship, striking a deal may well require an open-market test.

Rob Manfred On MLB’s Latest Coronavirus Issues

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COVID-19 has thrown a wrench into Major League Baseball’s plans throughout the past few months, and Monday was no different. The Marlins-Orioles and Yankees-Phillies games were both postponed because of the outbreak affecting the Miami club, which has seen 11 of the 33 players on its 30-man roster and three-man taxi squad test positive. The Marlins-O’s matchup on Tuesday will also be pushed back as a result, but commissioner Rob Manfred expressed confidence Monday that the 60-game season will still be able to take place.

“We think we can keep people safe and continue to play,” Manfred said (per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and Bill Shakin of the Los Angeles Times), adding that the league hasn’t seriously considering shutting down the season at this point. For MLB to do that, it would require one of its teams “losing a number of players that rendered it completely non-competitive,” Manfred stated. 

Whether the Marlins are “non-competitive” in their current state isn’t fully clear, as the identities of their players who tested positive aren’t known right now. They certainly appear to be at a disadvantage, though. The Fish were scheduled to play the Orioles in Miami, but the two could instead square off in Baltimore on Wednesday if the Marlins’ coronavirus tests yield the desired results, according to Manfred (via Shaikin). Manfred expects that the latest results from Miami and Philadelphia (which hosted the Marlins over the weekend) will come in Monday night, and the league will issue an update Tuesday, Hoch tweets.

It’s hard to call this anything but a terrible outcome for MLB, whose season just kicked off and looks less certain than ever to finish, but Manfred’s taking an optimistic approach for the time being. He insisted (via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald) that this is not “a nightmare situation” for the sport.

Monday’s Game Between Phillies, Yankees Postponed

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Tonight’s scheduled game between the Phillies and Yankees at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park has been postponed, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (via Twitter). The cancellation comes after a dozen Marlins players and two coaches tested positive for COVID-19 after playing in Philadelphia this past weekend. The Marlins’ scheduled home opener against the Orioles has also been called off.

Major League Baseball has yet to offer any official statement on the Marlins’ outbreak or on subsequent measures that will be taken. Phillies players, staff and clubhouse personnel have all surely gone through additional testing already, but the number of negative tests they’ll need to continue — and the period of time in which those tests must occur — isn’t known right now. At the very least, it’s safe to consider both the Marlins/Orioles and Yankees/Phillies series in jeopardy at this time.

ESPN’s Marly Rivera tweets that one potential option could be to push today’s game back to this weekend, when the Phillies are scheduled to be in New York for the Yankees’ home opener. Adding one or more doubleheaders to the two clubs’ remaining schedule this season and/or a makeup game on one of the rare off-days on the schedule could conceivably account for any games lost to the current outbreak, but such measures would obviously become untenable in the event that similar outbreak scenarios occur over the next two months.

The results of the Phillies’ testing will become crucial not only with regard to the resumption or rescheduling of the Yankees series but with regard to the feasibility of the 2020 season itself. The Phillies were the first team to have any type of outbreak, with as many as 12 positive tests among players and personnel back at intake. However, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Phils haven’t had a positive test since intake. Multiple infections now would point to a spread over the weekend series against Miami, which would serve as an even more foreboding red flag than the already ominous Marlins outbreak. Even if the league does continue on, it’s not difficult to imagine renewed apprehension among players and some additional season opt-outs.

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