The Philadelphia Phillies were handed a series of unfortunate updates ahead of their series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told the media that four players, Aaron Nola, JT Realmuto, Alec Bohm and Kyle Gibson, were placed on the restricted list because of their status as unvaccinated players. Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber was asked about his teammates who will be missing the upcoming two-game set against the Blue Jays because of their vaccination status. Here is his strong take per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Schwarber said there is no clubhouse resentment for those not going to Toronto. “We have each other’s backs. Just because we’re headed to Toronto doesn’t mean someone’s being bad teammate because they didn’t get it”
— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyNBCS) July 11, 2022
Schwarber said that “we have each other's backs.” The talented slugger said that it doesn't make the likes of Nola, Realmuto, Bohm and Gibson bad teammates because the team is playing the Blue Jays and they're unvaccinated.
Unvaccinated athletes are not allowed to travel in and out of Canada.
It's certainly a strong defense of his Phillies teammates, who will surely be thrown into the fire by the Philadelphia media for their decision to remain unvaccinated amid an ongoing global pandemic.
It certainly comes at a bad time for the Phillies too. Two pitchers, Zach Eflin and Ranger Suarez, are on the injured list. Another two will be joining them on the sidelines.
Still, Schwarber wasn't willing to throw his unvaccinated Phillies teammates under the bus, at least not publicly. There certainly could be a part of him that wishes his teammates would be there as Philadelphia attempts to remain in the mix in a heated National League Wild Card race.
However, Kyle Schwarber made it clear how he feels publicly about his teammates' absence for the Blue Jays series. It will be interesting to see what other players on the team have to say.
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