Michael A. Taylor scratched from Kansas City Royals’ lineup for contact tracing

Kansas City Royals center fielder Michael A. Taylor was removed from the club’s initial starting lineup for Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox.

Taylor, who won the Gold Glove as the American League’s best defensive player at his position last year, had been slated to start in center field and bat seventh for the fourth game of a five-game series against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium.

Roughly a half hour after the initial lineup was posted, the Royals posted an updated lineup without Taylor.

Royals manager Mike Matheny said after the game that Taylor was out because of MLB’s COVID-19 protocols for contact tracing.

Taylor played in both games of Tuesday’s doubleheader. He had two hits, including an RBI double, in the Royals’ 2-1 win in the nightcap.

He has not been placed on the injured list, nor had a roster move been made within a half hour of first pitch.

Heading into Wednesday night, Taylor had played 33 of the club’s 35 games this season. He’s batted .238 with two home runs and 12 RBIs. He has an on-base percentage of .333 and a .337 slugging percentage.

He made one of the best catches of the early season in St. Louis’ Busch Stadium to steal a home run earlier this month.

While many of the more restrictive practices of the previous two seasons have been scaled back, Major League Baseball does still have health and safety protocols in place this season to address potential COVID-19 cases, including for players who have not been infected but may have been in contact with someone who has the virus.

St. Louis Cardinals veteran pitcher Adam Wainwright revealed on Twitter that he’d been sidelined due to health and safety protocols earlier this month, though he remained asymptomatic.

Cleveland Guardians manager Terry Francona and several members of his coaching staff just cleared protocols this week and were expected to return to the team on Wednesday after multiple coaches tested positive last week.