And Now The Phillies Have A MRSA Problem

The Phillies announced today that infielder Freddy Galvis has been hospitalized with a staph infection and will begin the season on the disabled list. Now the Daily News reports that it is indeed MRSA, the particularly nasty antibiotic-resistant strain that struck the Buccaneers locker room last year.

It's just the latest blow in an unpromising spring of what has every indication of being a disastrous year for the Phillies, but we must reiterate that MRSA is no joke. It is disgusting and dangerous and highly infectious, and remarkably hard to kill. The Phillies will have their clubhouse professionally disinfected today, a process that looks like a scene from

MRSA requires an open wound to infect a person, and Galvis obliged earlier this month when he suffered a cut while sliding into third base. A bruise turned into an abscess, which he had removed earlier this week, but the infection had taken hold. He's recovering at a hospital and is receiving a heavy dose of antibiotics.

On the bright side, this nips any potential shortstop controversy in the bud.

Meanwhile, something resembling the flu has been slicing its way through the Phillies this spring. At least they hope it's the flu. It's probably the Black Death.