Author Topic: About half the Phillies refuse to be vaccinated against COVID  (Read 341 times)

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Offline welch

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I can't remember if this has been discussed at WNFF. But Fillies team leaders are pressing teammates to refuse to be vaccinated. Brandon Kintzler says the vaccination caused him to hurt his neck and made him ineffective.

https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/philadelphia-phillies-covid-vaccinated-20210720.html

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Nola .... acknowledged his unvaccinated status and called it a “personal choice.” It is a personal choice that cost his employer two of his 34 starts this season, for which he is being paid $11.7 million. Further, as the Phillies continue their unlikely surge into the National League East title race, Nola and his fellow anti-vaxxers live each day with the possibility that they might not be available for upcoming games — usually at least five but possibly as many as nine or 10, depending on the schedule.

Nola, an All-Star in 2018, entered the season as the Phillies’ No. 1 pitcher and the leader of the pitching staff. Our sources say that ownership and management are distraught that the clubhouse has shown such meager leadership.

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Phillies reliever Brandon Kintzler last month blamed his vaccination for making him so fatigued that he strained his neck in his third appearance of the season, which eventually sidelined him for three weeks with a back problem. Then again, Kintzler chose to pitch while fatigued ... and Kintzler also is 36, an age at which necks and backs often cause players pain, independent of their inoculation history.

And, then again, Kintzler was mediocre when he pitched for the Nats a couple years ago. Not likely he is improving with age.

Offline Natsinpwc

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I can't remember if this has been discussed at WNFF. But Fillies team leaders are pressing teammates to refuse to be vaccinated. Brandon Kintzler says the vaccination caused him to hurt his neck and made him ineffective.

https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/philadelphia-phillies-covid-vaccinated-20210720.html

And, then again, Kintzler was mediocre when he pitched for the Nats a couple years ago. Not likely he is improving with age.
Kintzler was DFAed a few days ago. He sucked early in the year before the vaccine. And then was brought back more recently and sucked again. He just isn’t good anymore.

Online Slateman

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Gonna be the height of hilarity if a covid outbreak costs them the division

Offline welch

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https://slate.com/culture/2021/07/phillies-covid-outbreak-vaccine-skepticism-mlb-nfl.html?fbclid=IwAR0aX5jrWYQ_v1zUXa-VkOYNMUMFHipGmR2zJD-54oltF_TJAuMzDZTIn60

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He also writes the holdouts’ vaccine opposition is “driven by a handful of influential players who have voiced opposition to it,” and provides some examples of anti-vaccine talking points that are almost jaw-dropping in how nonsensical they sound. Pitcher Brandon Kintzler had neck pain during an outing and decided it was thanks to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, not, you know, to pitching. Pitcher Archie Bradley “alluded to” the vaccine, rather than, uh, pitching, causing oblique issues. Shortstop Didi Gregorious blamed the vaccine for an elbow problem. The report says team doctors have tried to “dispel” these notions, but in their defense, the players don’t seem especially movable. “There has to be some science behind it,” Kintzler said of the vaccine preceding several Phillies suffering baseball injuries. Manager Joe Girardi sounds like a guy who has given up, saying the club is “beyond” peer pressure.


Offline welch

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From The Athletic:

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Many Phillies players have bristled at MLB’s protocols, but they are the same set of rules for every team. Team officials will not divulge how many players aren’t vaccinated. It is a meaningful number, to the point that months ago, the Phillies were certain they would never reach the 85 percent threshold. The clubhouse’s contentious relationship with the vaccine is driven by a handful of influential players who have voiced opposition to it. Some of them have already contracted COVID-19 and consider the antibodies as enough protection, although the CDC recommends people who’ve had the virus still be vaccinated. Other Phillies players have questioned whether injuries they’ve suffered were a result of vaccine side effects.

When Kintzler experienced neck pain, he attributed it to a Johnson & Johnson vaccine he received in the first week of the season. His body, he said, shut down and that forced him to compensate during an outing. Didi Gregorius has told teammates he thought the vaccine led to his pseudogout diagnosis. When asked last month if he had a theory about what caused his elbow issues, Gregorius said: “I have no clue. So, I’m not sure. Let’s go with that. Because if I start saying things, it’s going to turn into a whole thing.” Archie Bradley alluded to the vaccine when he injured his oblique in April.

It’s been a talking point inside the clubhouse, although the club’s medical staff has attempted to dispel those theories.

“I think everyone should recover for a week from that thing,” Kintzler said of the vaccine last month. “Archie strained his oblique after it. (Matt) Joyce had back problems. There has to be some science behind it.”

https://theathletic.com/2700989/2021/07/11/depleted-phillies-will-a-win-but-face-continued-competitive-disadvantage-because-of-covid-19-vaccine-resistance/

Offline welch

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Gonna be the height of hilarity if a covid outbreak costs them the division

Phillies deserve to lose the division from this. Mets seem finished. Let's go, Barfs?

Offline Natsinpwc

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Gonna be the height of hilarity if a covid outbreak costs them the division
Too late for that. The us against the world mentality has vaulted them into first place. And the Nats of course.

Offline Mattionals

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Too late for that. The us against the world mentality has vaulted them into first place. And the Nats of course.

So the projected standings for the end of the season from Fangraphs shows the Phillies winning the division with a breathtaking 85 wins.

Offline Natsinpwc

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So the projected standings for the end of the season from Fangraphs shows the Phillies winning the division with a breathtaking 85 wins.
That would be 26-24 the rest of the way.  I am sure the fangraphs guys have a good algorithm but given their schedule hard to see them not winning more than that.  I say 87/88.  They just beat the Mets yesterday with 4 regulars out. 2 of them missed the whole series. 

Offline Mattionals

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That would be 26-24 the rest of the way.  I am sure the fangraphs guys have a good algorithm but given their schedule hard to see them not winning more than that.  I say 87/88.  They just beat the Mets yesterday with 4 regulars out. 2 of them missed the whole series.

But the Mets are currently undergoing the traditional Mets tailslide. Remember that the Philthies were handed Game 1 to them thanks to Wander Suero. Game 2 was going well until Patrick Corbin fell apart. Game 3 was a game legitimately won by the Phillies. Game 4 was in hand until the error and blow up by Finnegan.

The Phillies are just as flawed as the rest of the "likely NL East winners". The Phillies dropped 2 of 3 against the Pirates right before playing the Nats. They could still win the East, but they are a lackluster team (so are the Mess and Barves though) and I expect they get beat pretty easily by Milwaukee.

Offline Natsinpwc

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But the Mets are currently undergoing the traditional Mets tailslide. Remember that the Philthies were handed Game 1 to them thanks to Wander Suero. Game 2 was going well until Patrick Corbin fell apart. Game 3 was a game legitimately won by the Phillies. Game 4 was in hand until the error and blow up by Finnegan.

The Phillies are just as flawed as the rest of the "likely NL East winners". The Phillies dropped 2 of 3 against the Pirates right before playing the Nats. They could still win the East, but they are a lackluster team (so are the Mess and Barves though) and I expect they get beat pretty easily by Milwaukee.
They have the only lineup in the NL with five qualified hitters with an OPS over .800. If they stay healthy they will score runs. Question is the pitching.  One never knows what will happen in the playoffs if you get there.

It’s ok to lose 2 of 3 if you win the next 7. The Dodgers series should be fun.

Offline Mattionals

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They have the only lineup in the NL with five qualified hitters with an OPS over .800. If they stay healthy they will score runs. Question is the pitching.  One never knows what will happen in the playoffs if you get there.

It’s ok to lose 2 of 3 if you win the next 7. The Dodgers series should be fun.

5 qualified players OPS'ing over .800 is nice, but unfortunately it's a 26-man roster, of which there are usually 13 position players. Currently the Nats have a higher wRC+ as a team than the Phillies do. If you wanna go on fWAR just for the offense, the Phillies are right behind the Braves. I just see the additions that the Mets and Braves will get back from the IL as better than the additions that the Phillies will get from the IL, since I'm not wowed by Elfin, and McCutchen will help the offense, but the Phillies biggest need is pitching. The Braves getting Anderson and Ynoa back could really boost them up. I think it goes without saying what deGrom and Syndergaard can do (even if Noah is a reliever).