A’s place 6 players on COVID-19 injured list before home opening
The A’s placed six players on the COVID-19-related injured list before their home opener on Monday, pushing the number of players on COVID IL to seven.
Pitches Lou Trivino, AJ Puk and Kirby Snead and position players Chad Pinder, Jed Lowrie and Austin Allen all made the list. Placement on COVID IL does not necessarily indicate a positive test. The A’s also placed outfielder Stephen Piscotty at COVID IL on Friday. The team did not specify whether any of the players tested positive for coronavirus.
According to MLB’s health and safety protocols this season, COVID IL can be used for positive tests, confirmed exposure to COVID-19, symptoms requiring isolation for further evaluation, or side effects due to vaccination.
Puk, Snead and Allen had been placed on the limited list before A’s weekend series in Toronto. The A’s did not specify a cause for these moves, but Canadian policy prohibits unvaccinated visitors from entering the country. This means that unvaccinated members of visiting MLB teams cannot enter the country to play in Toronto. The MLB and Players Association agreed that the restricted list can be used this season for players who cannot enter Canada due to vaccination status.
Pinder, Lowrie and Trivino starred in the Toronto series. Pinder and Lowrie played in Sunday’s league final, and Trivino played on Saturday.
According to MLB protocols, any unvaccinated player identified as a close contact in a confirmed COVID-19 case must be quarantined for five days. Quarantine is not required for vaccinated players identified as close contacts. The MLB and Players Association also agreed to drop regular tests for all but symptomatic individuals this season.
The United States requires that air travelers to the country present a negative test result taken no earlier than one day before the flight or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 90 days. A’s manager Mark Kotsay said on Monday that all members of the team’s travel company to Toronto also took back.
“I can not go into detail about COVID stuff,” Kotsay said. “We had to take some steps, we’ve got a couple of new guys here. … Our mindset is that it’s the next man up.”
Teams can add “substitutes” to their active list to replace players on COVID IL. Oakland added reliever Sam Selman and infielder Nick Allen and Christian Lopes as substitutes ahead of Monday’s game against Baltimore. Pitches Ryan Castellani and Zach Logue and infielder Christian Bethancourt and Drew Jackson remain on the list after being added as replacements for Puk, Snead, Allen and Piscotty on Friday.
When players placed on COVID IL return, substitutes can be returned to the minors without it counting as an option and without these players having to undergo exemptions.
Trivino has worked as Oaklands closer; Kotsay said the A’s will continue to use matchups for late-inning relief. Pinder started eight of A’s first 10 games in the left field. Lowrie started three fights at DH, one in the first round and one in second place on the initial road trip.
“The one in line just has to show up that night,” said catcher Sean Murphy. “It’s just the next man. It’s a cliché, but that’s all you can do at this point. I think we’re done. We have a bunch of guys ready to step in and produce right away. We will be fine.”
COVID IL does not have a minimum length of stay. According to MLB protocols, a player who tests positive must isolate himself from the team for 10 days and be approved by a joint committee of MLB and union representatives and medical staff before returning; however, any player may return earlier if he returns two negative PCR test results.
Matt Kawahara covers the A’s for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @matthewkawahara