Phillies’ season on hold for 2nd day

No positive tests for Phillies in Monday’s round

Caution and optimism collided again Tuesday for the Phillies, who had a second consecutive game postponed due to health concerns.

Despite multiple and welcome reports that no Phillies had failed a Monday virus test, their 6:05 game against the visiting New York Yankees was cancelled. That followed the postponement of a game with the Yankees Monday after multiple Miami Marlins failed tests during their weekend visit to Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies were due to play in Yankee Stadium Wednesday and Thursday night. But since they were in close contact with several virus-stricken Miami Marlins over the weekend, those games will be canceled, too, according to reports.

Some Phillies were scheduled for a second round of tests Tuesday. The Blue Jays will arrive at Citizens Bank Park for a weekend series Friday, and will play as the home team. Though the Phillies have been overwhelmingly quiet as they work through a challenging situation, they are known to be preparing for that series against Toronto, which was bumped to Philadelphia upon Canada’s refusal to allow visiting teams to cross the border.

“There were some anxious moments for me, not knowing what results I would get from my team,” Joe Girardi told Sirius XM Tuesday. “I think it’s really smart of baseball to wait one more day, just because the incubation period is two-to-14 days. I know we can’t wait 14 days, but I think we have to be really smart about this. And after thinking about it, I think this could happen more than this one time.”

The situation developed after 17 members of the Marlins’ traveling party, with as many as 12 reportedly being players, had positive coronavirus tests during their season-opening series in Philadelphia. There was some speculation that they’d been infected earlier, during a summer-camp visit to Atlanta. Still, the Phillies’ visiting clubhouses needed to be disinfected, effectively causing the postponement of the two-game Yankees series.

All of the Phillies and their stadium employees were tested Monday. One visiting clubhouse attendant did have a positive test result, another report said, and as such will be quarantined.

The Marlins’ two-game series, which was scheduled to begin Monday against visiting Baltimore, was postponed. Also Tuesday, members of the Washington Nationals objected to visiting Miami, and it grew clear that the Marlins’ season would require a brief pause.

“The health of our players and staff has been and will continue to be our primary focus as we navigate through these unchartered waters,” said Derek Jeter, the Marlins’ CEO. “After a successful Spring 2.0, we have now experienced challenges once we went on the road and left Miami.” He added: “We will provide additional information as soon as it becomes available.”

Even if that means certain teams will not play as many games as others this season, Girardi believes the shortened season can still work.

“If everyone doesn’t play 60 games, I think that’s all right,” he said in the radio interview. “We want to get to the playoffs. That’s the important thing. So if a team plays 57 games, you go by winning percentage to take the playoff teams, and you go from there.”

Baseball has protocols in place to prevent the spread of the virus, and commissioner Rob Manfred was prepared as of Monday to have the season continue. Girardi, though, is not sure if he would feel comfortable working if the virus continues to spread.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “The fact that we didn’t have anyone test positive yet is great. But there’s too much at stake when you talk about players and their health and their families’ health. There are guys that have little children at home, or wives that are pregnant or maybe a parent at high risk. I just think there’s too much at risk here not to say, ‘Hey, wait, we’ve got to back off for two days and let’s make sure.’

“I think it’s smart what baseball is doing here, and then we’ll go from there. We had some players who had some trepidation Sunday, just because there is close contact. The closest contact is probably the catcher and the first baseman. Rhys (Hoskins) wears a mask, and that’s great for Rhys. But if the person who has it is not wearing a mask, then the likelihood of getting it is still higher than if they both had masks.