Because he has not been vaccinated against Corona, German baseball professional Max Kepler was not allowed to follow his Minnesota Twins team on their trip to the Toronto Blue Jays in the MLB. Kepler is not allowed to enter Canada due to missing vaccinations.
The Twins placed the 29-year-old on the North American Baseball League’s so-called “restricted list,” along with teammates Trevor Megill, Emilio Pagani and Caleb Thielbar. This means that Kepler will not be paid during this time. The Berlin native will miss three games in Toronto and forfeit $111,264 of his $6.75 million annual salary.
“It’s sad that I can’t be with my team – especially after the recent losses,” Kepler said. The Twins had lost their last three games to the Detroit Lions before beating the Blue Jays 9-3 in Toronto. “All the players knew what was going to happen. You can’t tell 26, 30 players what to think,” said Twins head coach Rocco Baldelli.
Kepler is currently in his eighth season with the Twins and North American Baseball League. So far, the 29-year-old’s six home runs are the second most on his team.