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Report: Four Unvaccinated Philadelphia Phillies to Miss Toronto Road Trip
To enter the nation of Canada, one must be fully vaccinated with two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine—looking at you, Matisse Thybulle. Four members of the Philadelphia Phillies will miss their two game set in Toronto this week due to their vaccination status.
J.T. Realmuto, Aaron Nola, Alec Bohm, and Kyle Gibson, having declined to vaccinate thus far, will not be allowed to enter Canada when the Phillies cross the border.
Fortunately, MLB provides an exemption for teams with unvaccinated players. Clubs are allowed to call up replacements for these members of the roster from their minor league system and option them back to the minors without having to clear waivers, even if the player has no options left.
Per Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Phillies will replace Realmuto with Rafael Marchan, and the club has stated they have a replacement ready for Bohm too. However, Nola is unable to be replaced because he isn't lined up to start in Toronto. Gibson can be replaced for Wednesday's game only.
The four players will rejoin the club for the Phillies first-half finale series in Miami on Friday.
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