clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Phillies test negative, more Cards test positive

The Philadelphia Phillies are resuming workouts after another round of tests come back clean, while the Cardinals have more positive tests

By Adam J. Morris
MLB: JUL 26 Marlins at Phillies Photo by Kyle Ross/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In today’s COVID-19 testing news, the Philadelphia Phillies have had another round of negative tests, while the St. Louis Cardinals’ latest tests show between four and six new positives.

Thats good news for the Phillies, who have been sidelined since their Opening Day weekend series against the Miami Marlins. The Marlins have had over around their active roster from that series test positive, as well as some staffers, and the Phillies games this week have been postponed while they isolated and tested to see if any of them contracted it.

The Cardinals, meanwhile, had positive tests yesterday, which resulted in yesterday’s game against the Brewers being postponed. The tests today are primarily staffers, and there is talk that the teams may play a doubleheader tomorrow if there are no more positive tests tomorrow morning. However, with multiple people with the Cardinals having tested positive already, assuming there will be no more positives going forward seems questionable.

Rob Manfred reportedly raised with MLBPA President Tony Clark the possibility that the season would be cancelled if there are additional large outbreaks. The Marlins outbreak seems to have been contained, the Phillies had a positive staffer and clubhouse attendant test but no additional positives, but now the Cardinals are dealing with a potential outbreak.

After stories emerged about MLB and teams being unhappy with the Marlins not following protocol, reportedly going to clubs and hanging out in the hotel bar I’m Atlanta, there was backlash on Twitter from folks saying MLB was blaming the players for MLB’s lousy protocols. The problem is, though, that the protocols won’t do any good if the players and staffers don’t follow them. The Dodgers have reportedly met and re-emphasized the need to follow protocols and made them internally more stringent to avoid an outbreak. MLB is requiring each team have a compliance officer to monitor teams and ensure they are following protocols.

But if the individuals who are at the park each day aren’t all following the rules, it’s going to be very hard to pull off even this shortened season.