John Smoltz And Al Leiter Forced To Work Away From MLB Network Due To Vaccine Mandate

Former MLB pitchers and current MLB Network analysts John Smoltz and Al Leiter won’t be taking the COVID-19 vaccine under any circumstance.

After MLB Network announced that they were mandating the vaccine for all of their employees, it was revealed that Smoltz and Leiter would be sent home.

The two decorated pitchers will still be allowed to appear on the network, but they’ll now be working remote instead of in the studio in Secaucus.

NEWS: John Smoltz & Al Leiter will not appear in-studio for MLBN after refusing to receive COVID-19 vaccine, The Post has learned.https://t.co/mFuEMAh7Qf

— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) September 1, 2021

What Now For John Smoltz, Al Leiter?

“MLBN has made it mandatory for all employees to be vaccinated, with the mandate going into effect Sept. 1. MLBN executives, Smoltz and Leiter made a compromise to keep them on-the-air, but not in the Secaucus studios. They will both appear remotely for the shows.

Smoltz will also still call a Division Series game on site in October. The two are regular in-studio analysts for the network,” the report states.

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John Smoltz will still be allowed to travel to the site of the Divisional Playoff series that he’s scheduled to call in October. And will still be doing some work for Fox.

As for Al Leiter, he’ll likely be doing all of his work for MLB Network programming from his home for the time being.

So far, neither Smoltz or Leiter has spoken on the matter.

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