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The St. Louis Cardinals’ two most dangerous hitters, Nolan Arenado and NL MVP favorite Paul Goldschmidt, won’t travel for a series against the Toronto Blue Jays due to vaccine requirements, the team announced Sunday.
Goldschmidt, 34, boasts a .333/.416/.603 slash line this season and leads MLB in on base percentage and the NL in runs, batting average, on base percentage, slugging and OPS. Arenado, 31, made his seventh All-Star game and is batting .299 with 18 home runs and 59 RBI.
St. Louis is in the thick of the postseason hunt with a 51-45 record. The Cardinals are 1.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central and have a one game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies for the final spot in the NL Wild Card race.
On Sunday, the Cardinals will play a fifth straight game against the Cincinnati Reds before traveling to Canada to face the Blue Jays. Toronto is 12.5 games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East, but also one of the top contenders to secure an AL Wild Card berth.
Teams traveling to play in Toronto are required to have players vaccinated against COVID-19, just as Blue Jays players are required to be vaccinated for road games in the United States. Other players who have been ruled out of games in Toronto include J.T. Realmuto of the Phillies and nearly half the Kansas City Royals’ lineup.
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