Philadelphia Phillies Put Brakes On Home Games After Coronavirus Cases
- by Grant Boone
- in Sports
- — Aug 1, 2020
The regional version chosen has teams play each division rival 10 times mixed with 20 games against the corresponding division in the other league.
Two Philadelphia Phillies staff members tested positive for coronavirus, the team announced Thursday.
Passan reported that the MLB Players Association initiated the revision, with executive director Tony Clark suggesting it to MLB deputy commissioner Dan Halem as the first doubleheader of the season - a makeup twinbill between the White Sox and Cleveland - was being played Tuesday. We built the protocols to allow us to continue to play.
Instead of facing the Phillies, the Yankees played a two-game series this week against the Orioles, winning both games in Baltimore. No guidelines are given in the document how many cases are needed to shut down a team's season or any threshold on cases before the resumed season is delayed.
The news comes on the same day another player on the Miami Marlins has reportedly tested positive for coronavirus, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. A source told ESPN's Jesse Rogers that if what is happening with the Cardinals had occurred before the Marlins' outbreak, Friday's game at Miller Park would still be played. "I think we can still hopefully practice, pitchers throw bullpens".
He said he realized returning was possible following a phone call from Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos earlier this week. Freeman struggled with symptoms but has since returned to the team.
Major League Baseball also announced that it has conducted more than 6,400 tests since this past Friday, and there have been no new positive results for COVID-19 among on-field personnel from the other 29 teams besides the Marlins.
Two other games scheduled for Friday involving the Marlins, Nationals, Blue Jays and Phillies had already been postponed because of an outbreak among Miami players and two positive tests on Philadelphia's coaching staff.
In a statement, the Phillies said a member of the coaching staff and a member of the home clubhouse staff were positive after being tested Wednesday.
A total of six Major League Baseball clubs won't be in action this weekend as a result of the coronavirus outbreak: the three clubs with confirmed cases (Phillies, Marlins, Cardinals) and their scheduled opponents (Brewers, Nationals, Blue Jays).
Officials were concerned that the latest Marlins positive test result came five days after the team was last together, when the Marlins beat Philadelphia.
