The game on Wednesday afternoon between the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox was the first game of the year that was wiped off of the schedule due to COVID issues.
Several personnel in the Guardians’ clubhouse tested positive for the virus, prompting MLB to postpone the game until further notice.
The Guardians will begin a three-game weekend series tonight at Target Field against the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins.
Right-hander Aaron Civale will get the start opposite Sonny Gray.
Guardians’ MLB.com reporter Mandy Bell tweeted a list of team personnel that had tested positive in Chicago the other day, and unfortunately for the Guardians, it’s quite a long list.
From the Guardians:
The following members of the coaching staff are in Health & Safety protocols:
Manager Terry Francona
Bench Coach DeMarlo Hale
Hitting Coach Chris Valaika
Asst Pitching Coach Joe Torres
1B Coach Sandy Alomar
3B Coach Mike Sarbaugh
Hitting Analyst Justin Toole— Mandy Bell (@MandyBell02) May 12, 2022
Guardians’ COVID Cases Pile Up
Luckily, no players have been affected, at least as of now.
However, a decent portion of the coaching staff has, including manager Terry Francona and bench coach DeMarlo Hale.
This is not good news for the Guardians, who are going to have to really shuffle their coaching staff and do it quickly.
This is somewhat reminiscent of the St. Louis Cardinals’ COVID outbreak in the shortened 2020 season, where several players and coaches were affected, and the team saw a lot of roster and coaching staff turnover in a very short amount of time.
Again, no Guardians’ players have been affected up to this point, but with so many coaches having come down with the virus, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that some players may end up testing positive.
Still, it’s a distressingly long list of people within the organization who have tested positive.
As of now, it hasn’t affected the Guardians’ schedule, with the exception of Wednesday’s game of course.
NEXT: MLB Insider Updates The Guardians' COVID Situation