Report: Andrew Benintendi, 9 More Unvaccinated Royals Won't Play vs. Blue Jays

The Kansas City Royals will be without All-Star outfielder Andrew Benintendi and nine other players for their upcoming series against the Toronto Blue Jays because they are unvaccinated for COVID-19.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported Wednesday that Benintendi, Whit Merrifield, M.J. Melendez, Hunter Dozier, Brad Keller, Brady Singer, Michael A. Taylor, Kyle Isbel, Dylan Coleman and Cam Gallagher are ineligible to enter the country.

Canada requires nearly all people over the age of 18 to be vaccinated to enter the country. While there are some exceptions which require testing and a 14-day quarantine, MLB players do not qualify and have been forced to sit out games in Toronto throughout the 2022 season.

The Royals have by far the highest concentration of unvaccinated players so far this season. There had been only 25 players combined from all visiting teams traveling to Toronto not allowed to enter the country before Kansas City players are added to the list. No other team had more than four players added to the list.

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective at preventing serious outcomes. The virus has seen an increase in cases in recent weeks due to BA.4 and BA.5 variants.

Vaccine efficacy aside, MLB players who remain unvaccinated are impacting their teams' chances of winning. Kansas City will go into Toronto with a grab bag of players plucked from Triple-A and Double-A just to get them through the series. While the 35-53 Royals were not in playoff contention, there's no question the vaccinated players on the roster are being put at a significant disadvantage.

Players who are unvaccinated and are forced to miss games forgo their salary and service time for the games missed.