Giants changing protocols as Dominic Leone added to COVID list

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants have gotten a reminder this week that while society has largely gotten back to normal, COVID-19 can still disrupt their baseball season.

Dominic Leone became the third player to go on the COVID IL on Friday, with at least two more members of the clubhouse also testing positive. Leone joins Mike Yastrzemski, who tested positive on the road trip, and Zack Littell, who did on Wednesday. The Giants had not announced roster moves Friday afternoon, but utility man Jason Krizan and right-hander Mauricio Llovera had been brought up from Triple-A.

All three are vaccinated and boosted, as is most of the clubhouse, but the Giants are still making huge changes over the weekend in hopes of limiting the outbreak.

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President of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said clubhouse access will be limited to essential personnel for now and it will be closed to the media through the weekend. The Giants have asked their players to wear masks, although they cannot mandate it. Most of the group is fully vaccinated and boosted, including all three players on the IL.

"We have concerns about the level of contagiousness in our clubhouse given a string of recent positives, and we are taking measures to try to mitigate risk of further spread both internally and externally," Zaidi said on a Zoom call with reporters.

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An email was sent out to all Giants staffers asking them to take extra measures to protect themselves and others, and changes could already be seen Friday afternoon. Most team employees were wearing masks, including anyone who needed to go in the clubhouse before Friday's game.