Bloom: It 'pains me' that every member of Red Sox isn't vaccinated
Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom addressed the team's COVID-19 outbreak on Wednesday and pushed for further vaccination.
"I wish everybody in our organization was vaccinated," Bloom said, according to MassLive's Christopher Smith. "And for that matter, everybody period who is eligible. I'm a strong proponent of vaccination. So is our organization. Every person in this organization that isn't vaccinated, it pains me."
The executive's comments come after eight Red Sox players - including All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts - and three coaches either tested positive for COVID-19 or were listed as close contacts.
| Player/Staff | Status |
|---|---|
| Xander Bogaerts | Positive Test |
| Enrique Hernandez | Positive Test |
| Christian Arroyo | Positive Test |
| Matt Barnes | Positive Test |
| Martin Perez | Positive Test |
| Hirokazu Sawamura | Positive Test |
| Yairo Munoz | Positive Test |
| Ramon Vazquez (coach) | Positive Test |
| Kiyoshi Momose (coach) | Positive Test |
| Josh Taylor | Close contact |
| Tom Goodwin (coach) | Close contact |
Bloom, who called the number of cases "gut-wrenching," said the majority of the positive test results were "breakthrough infections" and isn't sure if the 85% vaccination threshold would have changed anything.
Bloom -- 'We have a lot of breakthrough infections. There's no real way to know if it would have been different if we had a higher vaccination rate or not.' #RedSox
— Bill Koch (@BillKoch25) September 1, 2021
The Red Sox, who are fighting for an AL wild-card spot, have lost three of their last five games since the first positive case was announced on Friday. Bloom admitted the outbreak has already made things tough for manager Alex Cora and his staff, and more positive tests could dramatically impact their postseason chances. Boston entered Wednesday with a 73.1% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs.
Bloom on whether Sox can field competitive roster given extent of outbreak: ‘That gets harder with every’ positive test. But he characterizes it as a test of depth that many other teams have likewise had to answer.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) September 1, 2021
Boston announced a number of roster moves to replace its players on the COVID-19-related IL on Wednesday, activating right-hander Ryan Brasier and utility player Danny Santana from the injured list, while also selecting the contracts of infielder Jack Lopez and right-hander John Schreiber from Triple-A.