Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black, first base coach Ron Gideon and four players were not available for Friday's home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers due to COVID-19 reasons, but the clubs still planned to play.
Right-handers Antonio Senzatela, Yency Almonte and Jhoulys Chacin and outfielder Yonathan Daza were added to the COVID-19 IL. The team said Black and Gideon were unavailable due to contact tracing protocols.
Rockies bench coach Mike Redmond will manage Colorado while Black is out, and Major League Data & Game Planning Coordinator Doug Bernier will coach first base. The club promoted left-handers Ben Bowden and Zac Rosscup, right-hander Antonio Santos and outfielder Sam Hilliard. The Rockies are among the teams to reach 85% vaccination.
The virus surge comes as the Rockies are coming off the All-Star Game, which they hosted on Tuesday.
It's a step backward for Major League Baseball, which hadn't postponed a game over virus concerns in nearly three months.
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who started the All-Star Game for the American League, was one of six players for that team to have also been placed on the COVID IL since Tuesday. That move sparked concern about a potential spread at the Midsummer Classic.
MLB was conducting contact tracing under its protocols, and no other COVID-19-related postponements were announced around the league with every team set to play Friday night. None of the Rockies players added to the COVID IL were All-Stars.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who managed the NL team, said players and staff from Los Angeles have gone through two rounds of testing. Those all came back negative prior to Friday's game against the Rockies in Denver.
"It is what it is, just got to kind of adhere to whatever they ask,'' Roberts said. "I was hoping we were past it all but unfortunately we're not."