Toronto trip reveals which Phillies players are still unvaccinated
Several unvaccinated Philadelphia Phillies players won’t be able to enter Canada for series against Toronto Blue Jays
When the Philadelphia Phillies head to Toronto, they’ll be without several key players.
Canada continues to require vaccination against the coronavirus in order to enter the country, which means the Phillies will be leaving some players at home.
As reported by Matt Gelb and others on Monday,
"“The Phillies will put Realmuto, Bohm, Nola and Gibson on restricted list for Toronto. They forfeit pay and service time for two days. Other potential absences were mitigated through demotions to minors / injuries.”"
It’s not an ideal situation in a matchup between two postseason hopefuls. The Phillies entered Monday 46-40, holding the third National League Wild Card. The Blue Jays are 45-42, tied with the surging Seattle Mariners for the third American League Wild Card.
The Phillies came under fire last season for their low vaccination rate. In July, reports revealed that approximately half the roster refused to get vaccinated, an embarrassing piece of information in contrast to the two-thirds of the league that had reached the minimum threshold over a month before. At the time, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski didn’t mince words:
"“We’ve encouraged the players to be vaccinated. We’ve done that from the beginning of the season, really from spring training… and have continued to do so.Do I wish all players were vaccinated? Yes. I’m vaccinated.”"
Unfortunately, the organization had (and clearly continues to have) trouble getting through to several players on the matter. It took until mid-September for the Phillies to reach the 85% threshold mandated by Major League Baseball that would allow them to lighten their safety protocols. At the time, it was unclear which players remained unvaccinated, though Aaron Nola had no problem admitting he was one of them.
Nola, Bohm, and Realmuto already spent time on the COVID-related Injury List last year, each time creating a problem their teammates had to attempt to solve. This week’s series in Toronto is only two games, but their absence is an inconvenience to their teammates. It already required the rotation to be shuffled around so that Gibson could pitch earlier, and the lineups for the pair of contests will be without Bohm and Realmuto. The former is off to a scorching start to July, with a triple and two home runs in his first seven games of the month; the latter also has a pair of homers in his first seven July games, a promising sign given that he only homered four times in 48 games between May and June.
Fans also think that the ‘potential absences mitigated through… injuries’ could refer to Bryce Harper. The Phillies played the Blue Jays last spring, but it was in Dunedin, Florida, before the Jays were allowed to resume hosting games in Toronto later in the season, so his vaccination status remains unclear. Of course, he’s already on the Injured List, recovering from a fractured thumb, so he’s unavailable regardless. But if he wasn’t?
Many people will read this and remark on the personal choice to get vaccinated, and you’re correct, it is a personal choice. A personal choice that has consequences for others.
For a team attempting to hold on to a wild card spot, the consequence is that they’re without key members of their team while facing a formidable opponent also in the playoff hunt.
