In the top of the seventh inning of Saturday’s 7-1 victory against the Marlins, assistant pitching coach Dave Lundquist emerged from the dugout to talk to Zack Wheeler before he faced his final batter. In usual circumstances, pitching coach Bryan Price would talk to the new Phillies pitcher. He was absent today.
When asked about Price, manager Joe Girardi told reporters over Zoom that Price has “a medical issue that I can’t discuss.” Girardi noted that there are no other medical issues of that nature on the team.
On June 19, NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury reported an outbreak of COVID-19 in the Phillies’ Clearwater facility. Five players and three staff members tested positive and it was reported days later that four additional members of the organization, including two players and two staff members, tested positive.
General manager Matt Klentak confirmed on July 7 that bench coach Rob Thomson, bullpen coach Jim Gott and bullpen catcher Greg Brodzinski all tested positive for the coronavirus.
On July 22, Klentak told the media “We have not had any additional cases in the last few weeks.”
In MLB’s latest round of coronavirus testing, it was reported Friday that out of 10,939 samples, six were positive. Four players and two staff members tested positive.