J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm among four Phillies out vs. Toronto Blue Jays due to vax status

ST. LOUIS — Alec Bohm was ready to take infield practice Monday, but first he had some explaining to do.

Bohm, star catcher J.T. Realmuto, and starting pitchers Aaron Nola and Kyle Gibson will miss the Phillies’ two-game series in Toronto this week because of Canadian regulations that prohibit people who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 from entering the country, the team announced Monday.

The players will be placed on the restricted list, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said, and forfeit two days of pay and major-league service time, according to terms of MLB’s collective bargaining agreement with the Players Association.

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Bohm said his vaccination decision was “my personal choice,” an explanation used previously by Nola, who said Monday he “just didn’t want to do it.” Gibson cited a medical condition, ulcerative colitis, as a reason for not getting vaccinated, although the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation has said it recommends vaccinations.

Realmuto said he consulted doctors before deciding not to get shot.

“I’m a healthy, 31-year-old professional athlete,” he said, adding, “I’m not going to let Canada tell me what I do and don’t put in my body.”

But aren’t the unvaccinated Phillies also putting themselves ahead of the team?

“Yeah, that’s the difficult part of it,” Bohm said. “I wish it didn’t have to be like that. It’s a personal deal. I’ve made a choice, and there’s consequences that come with that and I have to suffer those. It is what it is.”

The Phillies open a two-game series Tuesday night in Toronto. Entering the finale in St. Louis, they were one game ahead of the Cardinals for the final National League playoff spot.

Realmuto and Bohm will be replaced on the roster because they are position players. The Phillies will recall catcher Rafael Marchán from triple-A Lehigh Valley and make an additional move before Tuesday night’s game.

The Phillies can’t replace Nola because he started Monday night and is unable to pitch in Toronto. They can call up a replacement for Gibson on Wednesday because he last pitched Saturday and would be available to face the Blue Jays.

“It’s a situation where, we’ve been through it for two years, people have to make individual decisions of what they think is the best thing for them,” Dombrowski said. “I understand that. We prefer to have a full club. There’s no doubt. But that’s the reality of today’s world, and we have to make adjustments. We still have a lot of good players.”

But there will be a trickle-down effect. The Phillies will piece together Tuesday night’s game with relief pitchers, according to interim manager Rob Thomson. They are slated to face tough Blue Jays starters Kevin Gausman and José Berríos without two of their regulars, including Bohm, who drove in three of their six runs in the first three games against the Cardinals.

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“I’ve got all the confidence in those guys to go out there in Toronto and go win a couple games,” Bohm said. “We’ve won games that I haven’t played in before. It is what it is. It’s out of my control.”

Since the vaccines became available last year, the Phillies have encouraged players to get inoculated through presentations and team meetings with medical personnel. But the agreement with the Players Association prevents teams from mandating vaccinations.

With the Toronto series approaching, Dombrowski said the Phillies made another recent push to get their entire roster in compliance with Canada’s entry policy by providing additional information on each vaccine.

“We made that presentation, yes,” Dombrowski said. “We’ve had a couple other players [get vaccinated] in that time period.”

But the Phillies also may have have sidestepped reserving other players in Toronto with recent roster moves. Rookie left-hander Bailey Falter, for instance, would have started Tuesday night but was optioned to triple A after his start last Thursday.

“I can’t get into individuals that are not put on the list, who’s vaccinated and who’s not vaccinated,” Dombrowski said of whether other recent roster moves were made with the Toronto trip in mind. “It’s not allowed.”

Asked if he regrets his decision now, Bohm stood by it. He also said his teammates “know where I stand and they respect it.”

Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies’ All-Star left fielder, said there isn’t finger-pointing or resentment over the players who are choosing not to put themselves in the position to go to Toronto.

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“No, I wouldn’t say so,” Schwarber said. “There’s nothing in that clubhouse when we go to Toronto and we don’t have those guys there, there’s not going to be one hard feeling. It all comes down to a personal decision, right? It’s unfortunate that Canada’s not letting people in what will be in a controlled environment, but we can’t tell a government what to do.

“I have [the vaccination], but I don’t push it on people. If you want to get it, great. If you don’t, fine. I’m not going to treat you any differently. Just because we’re heading to Toronto doesn’t mean that someone’s being a bad teammate just because they didn’t get [the shot].”

In missing the two games, Realmuto will lose roughly $262,362 in salary; Nola will lose approximately $170,329, Gibson $84,249, and Bohm $7,857.

“It’s not like I don’t want to go play, right?” Bohm said. “It’s a tough deal. But we’re playing well, and those guys are going to carry that momentum up into Toronto.”

What if both the Phillies and Blue Jays make the playoffs, creating a possibility that they could face off in the World Series?

“I guess that’s just a bridge we’ll have to cross when we get there,” Bohm said. “Can’t really predict the future like that.”