Phillies manager Rob Thomson will address the elephant in the room sometime during the team’s upcoming series in St. Louis.
The elephant is the Phillies’ two-game trip to Toronto next week.
The Phillies will be without several players who don’t comply with Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination policy.
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“When we get to St. Louis, I’m going to address a lot of that, once we get closer,” Thomson said Wednesday afternoon.
It’s not clear which Phillies players, or how many, are unvaccinated. Unvaccinated players will be placed on MLB’s restricted list before Tuesday’s series opener in Toronto and will forfeit two day’s pay and service time. The Phillies will be allowed to reach down to the minors to complete their roster. Players added for the series will not have to clear waivers to return to the minors.
It's also not clear which pitchers will start the two games in Toronto. A better idea of that will arrive when the Phillies announce their rotation for the four-game series in St. Louis, which begins Friday night.
It's possible that the Phils could juggle their rotation and have Zack Wheeler start Friday night against the Cardinals. That would allow him to pitch five days later in Toronto. Word is Wheeler is good to travel to Canada.
MLB
Depending on how the Phils configure the rest of their rotation for the four-game series in St. Louis, they could be in need of a pitcher for Tuesday night’s series opener in Toronto. Kent Emanuel and Griff McGarry, pitching at Triple A and Double A, respectively, could be possibilities to get innings in that game.
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