The Cleveland Guardians reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, a day after an outbreak within their club caused a delay in Chicago and sent coach Terry Francona and five coaches home after a road trip.
The team said coach Karl Willis will serve as the club’s interim manager for a three-game series this weekend at Minnesota. Willis gave birth to twins between 1991 and 1995.
Cleveland was on vacation Thursday.
In a statement, the team’s chief of baseball operations, Chris Antonetti, said the team will continue to test people and conduct contact tracing.
Antonetti said Willis “will be supported by other people throughout the organization so that members of our coaching staff can join the team.”
So far, no player has tested positive for the virus.
Francona learned he tested positive on Wednesday, about two hours before the first scheduled pitch. Shortly after, Major League Baseball canceled the Guardians’ series finale against the White Sox, the first Majors to be postponed due to coronavirus-related issues in 2022, so more testing could be done.
Francona, 63, who has dealt with significant health issues over the past two seasons, returned to Cleveland on Thursday with coaches and members of the team’s travel party who have also tested positive.
The team said Francona was put through health and safety protocols along with bench coach DeMarlo Hill, first base coach Sandy Alomar, third base coach Mike Sarbo, hitting coach Chris Valica, assistant shooting coach Joe Torres and hitting analyst Justin Toll.
Hill took his place when Francona departed last July, and Omar served as the team’s interim manager for most of the 2020 season.
Meanwhile, the Guardians are expected to bring in some junior coaches and trainers to fill out the league’s main staff.
The team said an additional update will be provided Friday before the team’s clubhouse opening in Minneapolis.
Wednesday’s delay — the game will be part of the split header on July 23 — raised questions about whether teams should return to some of MLB’s stricter protocols in 2020.
The Guardians, whose outbreak was smaller earlier this season, discussed the mask policy on Wednesday before Francona’s positive test prompted the team to do more testing and contact tracing.
After playing three games against the Twins, the Guardians will miss on May 23 before hosting the Cincinnati Reds for two.
