Merrifield says he’s vaccinated, ready to play for Jays
Whit Merrifield said Thursday he is vaccinated for COVID-19 and will be cleared to play for Toronto when the Blue Jays return to Canada.
Merrifield was acquired in a trade with Kansas City on Tuesday for two minor leaguers. The two-time All-Star was in the starting lineup in center field for his first game with his new team Thursday night at Minnesota.
“I’ll be in Toronto when the team gets to Toronto,” Merrifield said, avoiding saying when he received the vaccine.
Merrifield was among 10 players on the Royals who were unvaccinated last month, preventing them from making their trip to Toronto. When asked about his decision, Merrifield drew the ire of Kansas City fans by saying: “Something happens and I happen to get on a team that has a chance to go play in Canada in the postseason, maybe that changes.”
“It was something that
Iprobably could have handled a little better,” Merrifield said Thursday of his comments in July. “But what’s happened, happened. I’m excited to be a Blue Jay. Excited to get to Toronto and play in the Rogers Centre as my home.”
Toronto leads the AL wildcard standings as it tries to make the postseason for the second time in three years. The next home game for the Blue Jays is Aug. 12 against Cleveland.
■ RED SOX: The Boston Red Sox released Jackie Bradley Jr. on Thursday, ending the outfielder’s second stint with the team.
Bradley is batting .210 with three homers and 29 RBIs in 92 games this season. Bradley’s release left the Red Sox with 39 players on their 40-man roster.
Bradley was drafted by Boston with the No. 40 pick in the 2011 amateur draft. He broke into the majors with the Red Sox in 2013 and helped the team win the World Series in 2018.
Bradley agreed to a $24 million, two-year contract with
Milwaukee in March 2021 and played one season for the Brewers before he was traded to Boston in December.
The 32-year-old Bradley is a .228 hitter with 107 homers and 434 RBIs in 1,098 major league games. He was the MVP of the 2018 AL Championship Series and won the AL Gold Glove in center that same year.
■ LONDON GAME: Major League Baseball plans to return to London next year for the first time since 2019.
The league announced Thursday that the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs will play a two-game series on June 24-25, 2023, at London Stadium. The NL Central rivals were supposed to play in London in 2020, but the games were canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
MLB last played in London in 2019, when the New York Yankees swept a two-game set against the Boston Red Sox in June at London Stadium. Those were also MLB’s first regular-season games played in Europe.