Phillies coach tests positive, weekend games postponed

Phillies coach tests positive
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A Phillies coach tests positive for COVID-19. In case you wanted to know if this was ever gonna end.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reports that the Philadelphia Phillies have announced that “all activity at Citizens Bank Park has been cancelled today and until further notice” after two staff members tested positive for COVID-19. That includes one member of the Phillies coaching staff.

To date the outbreak which has idled the Miami Marlins had mostly spared the Phillies, who played them at Citizens Bank Park last weekend. A visiting clubhouse attendant had tested positive, which is understandable given the close quarters they share with the visiting players, but no Phillies players or coaches have been infected until now. Of course, given that epidemiologists generally believe that negative tests are not likely to be reliable until a few days after exposure, this is not something that has come from completely out of left field either.

The Phillies have been idled through Friday, as Major League Baseball waits to see if they were infected by the visiting Marlins. While, hopefully, this is a coincidence and the person who tested positive contracted the virus elsewhere and has not infected others on the Phillies, but when a Phillies coach tests positive, it may be sign that the Marlins problem is going wider than first thought.

UPDATE: and now, it seems, all of the Phillies-Blue Jays games scheduled this weekend have been postponed:

Padres claim 2-time All-Star catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from Mets

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
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SAN DIEGO — The scuffling San Diego Padres claimed catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from the New York Mets.

The two-time All-Star was designated for assignment after playing in three games for the Mets. He went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts and an RBI, looking shaky at times behind the plate.

With the disappointing Padres (24-29) getting meager offensive production at catcher, they hope Sánchez can provide a boost. Austin Nola is batting .131 with three extra-base hits and a paltry .434 OPS in 39 games. His part-time platoon partner, second-stringer Brett Sullivan, is hitting .170 with four extra-base hits and a .482 OPS in 21 games since getting called up from the minors April 16.

Luis Campusano has been on the injured list since April 17 and is expected to be sidelined until around the All-Star break following left thumb surgery.

San Diego is responsible for just over $1 million in salary for Sánchez after assuming his $1.5 million, one-year contract.

The star-studded Padres have lost seven of 11 and are 3-3 on a nine-game East Coast trip. They open a three-game series at Miami.

San Diego becomes the third National League team to take a close look at the 30-year-old Sánchez this season. He spent time in the minors with San Francisco before getting released May 2 and signing a minor league contract a week later with the Mets, who were minus a couple of injured catchers at the time.

After hitting well in a short stint at Triple-A Syracuse, he was promoted to the big leagues May 19. When the Mets reinstated catcher Tomás Nido from the injured list last week, Sánchez was cut.

Sánchez’s best seasons came early in his career with the New York Yankees, where he was runner-up in 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting and made the AL All-Star team in 2017 and 2019.

He was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season and batted .205 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 128 games last year.

With the Padres, Sánchez could also be a candidate for at-bats at designated hitter, where 42-year-old Nelson Cruz is batting .245 with three homers, 16 RBIs and a .670 OPS, and 37-year-old Matt Carpenter is hitting .174 with four homers, 21 RBIs and a .652 OPS.