Three Phillies players, two more coaches enter MLB’s COVID-19 protocols

When the Phillies opened a series Monday night against Gabe Kapler’s San Francisco Giants, they had a 24-year-old with 21 games of experience above single-A ball at shortstop and two lefties who hadn’t thrown a pitch in the majors seated in the bullpen.

That’s baseball — and life, in general — in the age of COVID-19.

Three hours before the scheduled first pitch at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies placed three players — pitchers José Alvarado and Matt Moore, and utility infielder Ronald Torreyes — on the injured list for COVID-related reasons. First-base coach Paco Figueroa and coaching assistant Bobby Meacham also entered Major League Baseball’s COVID protocol, joining third-base coach Dusty Wathan, hitting coach Joe Dillon, and bullpen coach Dave Lundquist, all of whom have been away from the team since last Friday.

Neither manager Joe Girardi nor president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was able to provide details on the players’ or coaches’ conditions, including whether they have actually tested positive for the virus. Players and staff can be placed in COVID protocol if they’re sick, asymptomatic, dealing with side effects from receiving a vaccine, or for having close contact with anyone who has tested positive.

“All I can tell you is it’s due to COVID protocol,” Girardi said. “That’s all we’re allowed to say. I’m not even saying who has it or who doesn’t. With COVID protocols there’s so many different ways that you can find yourself on it.”

The Phillies called up infielder Nick Maton and lefties Damon Jones and Cristopher Sanchez from the alternate training site in Lehigh Valley. Infield coach Juan Castro coached first base, while triple-A manager Gary Jones was promoted to coach third.

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Maton started at shortstop in place of Didi Gregorius, who was sidelined by swelling in his right elbow. The Phillies are hopeful that he will miss only one game.

“Obviously it’s not what you want to go through as an organization,” Girardi said. “But you have to deal with it, and you have to move forward. And you have to continue to play well.”

Monday night’s game was not in danger of being postponed. Phillies players and staff received point-of-care tests Monday, and many will be tested daily for about a week, according to Dombrowski. At this point, the Kinexon contact-tracing devices that they are required to wear didn’t indicate other players or staff were at risk of infection.

Asked if he’s confident that the Phillies have avoided a full-blown outbreak, Dombrowski said he couldn’t be certain.

“I wouldn’t say I’m 100 percent confident at this point. You never can tell what takes place,” Dombrowski said. “Am I concerned? Sure. Am I hopeful that nothing else happens? Yes. That’s the way I would describe it.”

The Phillies made it through last season’s 60-game schedule and spring training this year without having to put a player on the COVID injured list.

Other teams haven’t been as fortunate. The Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals had widespread COVID-19 outbreaks last season. The Washington Nationals had their first series of this season postponed after four players tested positive for the virus and 11 were quarantined. The Chicago Cubs, Minnesota Twins, and Houston Astros also have placed players in COVID protocol.

Based on the relatively small number of players who were absent, the Phillies had to replace them with players at the alternate site who are on the 40-man roster. If more players are impacted, they would be allowed to call up players from Lehigh Valley who aren’t on the 40-man.

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Scott Kingery has been playing mostly on the infield since losing the center-field competition in spring training and getting demoted to the alternate site. Dombrowski said the decision to bypass him for Maton was twofold. The Phillies want Kingery to keep improving his swing and don’t expect Gregorius to miss much time. Maton was brought up to fill Torreyes’ bench role.

Gregorius was banged up when he landed on his arm while trying to catch a pop-up in the outfield Friday night. He played Saturday and Sunday. The Phillies haven’t felt the need to schedule an MRI exam or other testing, according to Girardi.

There isn’t a minimum term on the COVID list. Players can be placed on the list one day and reinstated the next as long as they receive the required number of negative tests and are cleared in MLB’s contact-tracing protocol. But Girardi said the Phillies are planning for Vince Velasquez to start in Moore’s place Friday night at Coors Field in Colorado.

Girardi, who got his second shot earlier Monday, said the Phillies are not yet close to reaching the 85% threshold of vaccinated players and staff that would enable them to loosen their COVID-19 restrictions, in accordance with MLB’s directive when the season began.

Will Monday’s issues prompt more players and staff to get vaccinated?

Dombrowski said the players have received information about the vaccines from the team’s medical and training staffs and sat through a presentation two weeks ago during a road trip to Atlanta. Girardi continued to stress that it’s a “personal choice,” even though more vaccinations could potentially help limit the Phillies’ overall exposure to the virus.

“If you ask me what my preference would be, I would say sure, I would like to be at 85 percent,” Dombrowski said. “It makes a big difference, not only in situations like this but even their day-to-day life as far as when they’re traveling is concerned. But I can’t force individuals to do so. They have to make those decisions themselves.”