July 4 marked the second day of spring training II at Citizens Bank Park and FDR Park for the Phillies. There were a few notable absences at camp, including Aaron Nola, Adam Haseley and Christian Betancourt. According to multiple Phillies beat reporters, manager Joe Girardi could not elaborate further on their absence:
Girardi could not go into greater detail Thursday on the absences of Scott Kingery, Héctor Neris, Ranger Suárez and Tommy Hunter. Interestingly enough, Cole Irvin told the media earlier today, including Crossing Broad’s Bob Wankel that he believes it could take a pitcher six weeks to fully ramp up.
Matt Klentak said on Monday that he does not anticipate that any of his players would opt out of the 2020 season. Of course, that’s subject to change as players begin working out in camps.
As of now, we’re not entirely sure why Nola, Haseley, or Bethancourt are absent from camp. The way Girardi phrased it leaves some room for optimism, but so far, things are not looking good for the Phillies when it comes to the sheer number of possible COVID-19 cases within the organization.