The Cleveland GuardiansThursday was a good day for COVID-19. It came a day after an epidemic in the clubhouse made it impossible to report new cases. Terry Francona, along with five coaches, returned from a roadtrip and reported no new cases.
The team stated that Carl Willis, pitching coach at the club, will act as the club’s interim manager for a series of three games in this weekend’s series. Minnesota. Willis played for the Twins between 1991 and 1995.
On Thursday, Cleveland was not present
Chris Antonetti, president of the Guardians baseball operations, stated that the team would continue to test its personnel and conduct contact trace.
Antonetti stated that Willis will be supported by others in the organization “until the coaching staff can rejoin the team.”
At this time, there have been no confirmed cases in any of the players.
Francona found out that he was positive about Wednesday, just two hours before the scheduled start of the first pitch. Major League Baseball canceled the Guardians series finale against White Sox shortly thereafter. This was the first majors postponement due to coronavirus-related issues 2022. More testing could have been done.
Francona, a 63-year old woman who has had to deal with serious health issues over the past two seasons was bused back to Cleveland with coaches and other members of the traveling party, who were also positive.
Francona was placed with DeMarlo Hale and Sandy Alomar as first-base coaches Sandy Alomar and Mike Sarbaugh as hitting coaches. Justin Toole is the hitting analyst.
Francona’s replacement was Hale, with Alomar serving as acting manager until the end of the 2020 season.
The Guardians expect to hire minor league coaches to help fill the gap in the major league staff.
The team stated that an additional update would be made Friday, before the clubhouse in Minneapolis opens.
Wednesday’s postponement of the game – it will be made up in a split doubleheader July 23 – has raised questions about whether or not teams should return the stricter protocols MLB implemented in 2020.
The Guardians, who experienced a less severe outbreak earlier in the season, had already discussed the Mask Policy on Wednesday, before Francona’s positive test prompted them to perform more testing and contact tracing.
The Guardians will host the tournament on May 23, after playing three games against Twins. Cincinnati RedsTwo.