CLEVELAND, OHIO – APRIL 15: The new Cleveland Guardians logo hangs on the exterior of Progressive Field prior to the home opener against the San Francisco Giants on April 15, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
The Cleveland Guardians are dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak on their coaching staff, as seven members were placed in health and safety protocols.
The Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox split their three game-series with a win each. Their series finale on Wednesday May 11 was postponed after members of Cleveland’s traveling coaching staff tested positive for COVID-19, one of them being manager Terry Francona.
On Thursday, May 12, the Guardians revealed that a total of seven members of their coaching staff have been placed in MLB’s health and safety protocols, via MLB.com’s Mandy Bell. Additionally, it was revealed that pitching coach Carl Willis will fill in as the team’s manager for the team’s three-game series against the Minnesota Twins over the weekend.
You can see the full list of coaches in the health and safety protocols in Bell’s tweet below:
Guardians place members of coaching staff in health and safety protocols
As of Thursday, there were no new cases of COVID-19 reported in the organization. Additionally, no players have tested positive.
The Guardians are 15-15 on the year entering their weekend series against Minnesota. They started off their series against Chicago strongly, thanks in part to a historic performance by Josh Naylor, who recorded eight RBI beginning in the eighth inning and beyond. Cleveland took that game 12-9 after 11 innings. The Guardians then dropped the next game, losing 4-1.
There is still no confirmed date for the rescheduled White Sox game as of this writing.