Arenado, Goldschmidt can’t play in Toronto series

Church of St. The Louis Cardinals will be without All-Star boarders Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt in a two-game series against the Blue Jays in Toronto this week because of Canada’s COVID-19 vaccination regulations, said president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters on Sunday.

Catcher Austin Romine will also miss the series because he hasn’t been vaccinated against COVID-19.

To enter the country, the government of Canada requires a person to have a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine – or a dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine – at least 14 days prior to entry.

All three players will be shortlisted and will not be paid or accrued main league service time for the two games, according to a March agreement between Major League Baseball and the players association.

Mozeliak said three players will be replaced on the roster by main catcher Ivan Herrera, midfielder Conner Capel and midfielder/midfielder Cory Spangenberg in the series that will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Going into Sunday, Goldschmidt led the Cardinals in batting average (0.333), home runs (22), RBI (74), percentage-based (.416) and miss percentage (. 0.603). Arenado is second in the group for average (0.99), home runs (18), RBI (59) and miss rate (0.534) and third in percentage on base (0.363). ).

The Cardinals (51-45) entered Sunday second in National League Central, 1½ games behind first place Milwaukee Brewers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.