J.T. Realmuto explains decision to not get vaccinated, miss Toronto series

J.T. Realmuto is one of four Philadelphia Phillies that will not be with the team the next two days in Toronto because he’s not vaccinated against COVID-19, and therefore ineligible to enter Canada.

Following a 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals Monday evening, the three-time All-Star explained his reasoning for not being vaccinated.

“I mean yeah, it’s an extremely unfortunate situation,” Realmuto told the collective media. “Obviously, my teammates know how I feel about them and how badly I wanna be out there with them, but it’s just unfortunate that I’m not able to make the trip.”

Realmuto was then asked what his reservation was about getting one of the three available vaccines against COVID-19.

“I just, I’m a healthy 31-year-old professional athlete, and I just didn’t feel the need to get it,” Realmuto continued. “I’ve had COVID a couple times, and [had] super mild symptoms back when it first came out. And when it came time to decide whether I needed the vaccine or not, I talked with a couple of doctors that I knew and told them my story and just really decided that I didn’t think I needed it. And I wasn’t going to take it just because I was told to, basically.”

As Phillies Nation‘s Destiny Lugardo noted, Realmuto is likely to lose over $260,000 by missing the two games because of his vaccination status.

“Yeah, but I mean what’s money? I’m not gonna let Canada tell me what I do and don’t put in my body,” Realmuto said. “For a little bit of money, it’s just not worth it for me.”

J.T. Realmuto on not being able to join the Phillies in Toronto due to his vaccination status: pic.twitter.com/7suM66OYaB

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) July 12, 2022

Realmuto — along with Alec Bohm, Kyle Gibson and Aaron Nola — will go on the restricted list Tuesday. Matt Gelb of The Athletic noted that Rafael Marchan is expected to join the team in Toronto, with him and Garrett Stubbs set to be the team’s active catchers in Realmuto’s absence.

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