The Philadelphia Phillies have been directly impacted in the fallout from the Miami Marlins COVID-19 outbreak. The Phillies played the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia last weekend before Miami's test results yielded more than a dozen positive tests on Monday. On Thursday, the Phillies had their upcoming weekend series vs. the Blue Jays postponed. The scheduling change happened shortly after the Phillies announced their latest round of coronavirus test results.
The test results for Phillies players all came back negative, but two staff members -- a coach and a home clubhouse staffer -- tested positive. The Phillies canceled all workouts scheduled for Thursday and will not face the Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park this weekend.
Here's the full statement from MLB:
Out of an abundance of caution, the Philadelphia Phillies' three-game weekend series with the Toronto Blue Jays, scheduled for Saturday, August 1st and Sunday, August 2nd at Citizens Bank Park, has been postponed.
Major League Baseball will coordinate with health experts and the Major League Baseball Players Association in planning for the Phillies' resumption of play, and will provide further scheduling updates as necessary.
The Phillies, who also had their four-game series against the Yankees this week postponed, were scheduled to play the Blue Jays for three games this weekend in Philadelphia. MLB initially postponed Friday's game and scheduled a doubleheader on Saturday, but now the league has postponed the entire three-game series. From MLB:
Out of an abundance of caution, the Philadelphia Phillies' three-game weekend series with the Toronto Blue Jays, scheduled for Saturday, August 1st and Sunday, August 2nd at Citizens Bank Park, has been postponed.
Major League Baseball will coordinate with health experts and the Major League Baseball Players Association in planning for the Phillies' resumption of play, and will provide further scheduling updates as necessary.
The Blue Jays were supposed to be the "home" team in the series as they wait for their 2020 home ballpark in Buffalo to get MLB-ready. The Canadian government decided against allowing the Blue Jays to play 2020 home games in Toronto earlier in the month.
The Phillies next scheduled game is on Tuesday, against the Marlins in Miami. The Marlins have also not played since Sunday and remain quarantined in Philadelphia.
Players have been told that if they were exposed to COVID-19 from facing the Marlins, positive tests would show up between Thursday and Saturday, according to The Athletic's Jayson Stark. According to the CDC, the incubation period (the time from exposure to development of symptoms) of the coronavirus ranges from 2–14 days.
