General manager Matt Klentak expects the Philadelphia Phillies will be better prepared for more potential outbreaks of COVID-19 after seven of the organization's players - including six at the team's spring training site in Clearwater, Florida - tested positive over the past week.
"What is eye-opening to a lot of us is how quickly it spread, even in an environment where we were on the extreme end of caution," Klentak said, according to Martin Frank of the Delaware News Journal. "Our facility in Clearwater was pretty air-tight in terms of staggering the times for players to work out ... and (crews were) cleaning the facility in between.
"Truthfully, in some ways, it was frustrating to some of the players about how strict it was. Yet this outbreak still happened."
Klentak said the players who tested positive could wind up on MLB's new COVID-19 list, but other members of the Phillies organization will have to be even more careful moving forward to avoid further outbreaks.
"It’s going to take a lot of discipline from a lot of people," he said. "It’s going to put a lot of strain on the testing process. The importance of testing every couple of days is going to be critical to the operation, as is the discipline of people to stay safe."
Klentak added that all players will go through a screening process before they're allowed to train and will be divided into small workout groups that exercise in morning and afternoon shifts.
The Phillies begin official workouts Friday and will train at two sites when they return: Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia and nearby FDR Park.
