PHILADELPHIA -- Maybe sometime soon the Phillies will reignite contract negotiations with catcher J.T. Realmuto.

Maybe sometime soon the Phillies and Seranthony Domínguez will move forward on a course of action for his injured right elbow.

But with baseball postponed and roster transactions frozen because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Phillies and Realmuto can no longer discuss a contract extension to keep him in a Phillies uniform beyond 2020. Domínguez, meanwhile, is in a holding pattern after he suffered a setback last month in his recovery from an ulnar collateral ligament injury.

“The best course of action, really the only course of action for us right now, is to press pause on those discussions,” Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said Thursday regarding contract negotiations with Realmuto. “Whenever we resume, we’ll see what the circumstances are and reengage, but no one can really predict what the parameters will be at that point. At this point, we just have to press pause and see what happens.”

The closer Realmuto gets to the winter, the more inclined he might be to wait and hit the open market. A source indicated last month that talks were progressing slowly, and there was no guarantee that an agreement would be reached by the originally scheduled Opening Day on March 26.

“I don’t comment publicly on the status of contract negotiations,” Klentak said. “I think you all know that we love J.T. and he’s a player that we would love to have with us for the long haul. Once we got through his salary arbitration hearing in February, the next item on the agenda, so to speak, was to resume talks on a longer-term deal. This had to halt those discussions.”

Domínguez felt soreness in his right elbow following an appearance in Dunedin, Fla., on March 8. He was getting his elbow evaluated when Spring Training got canceled on March 12. The initial evaluation from Phillies doctors included the possibility of Tommy John surgery, but the Phillies and Domínguez agreed he should seek a second opinion.

But on the day that Domínguez was scheduled for a second opinion, the Dominican Republic implemented travel restrictions. Domínguez returned home instead.

“And on top of that, elective surgeries were understandably beginning to present some ethical dilemmas across the country,” Klentak said. “It was a tough situation, but Seranthony was incredibly thoughtful and we remained in constant communication with him throughout. Ultimately, just before the travel ban took effect, we all agreed that the best decision for him was to return home and be with his family.

“What’s going on in the world right now is much bigger than baseball. It impacts everyone in different ways, and we need to respect that no two situations are exactly alike. Moving forward, we will stay in regular contact with Seranthony, just as we will with all of our players, and we will look for the earliest possible date to have him return safely to the United States for further medical care.”

Klentak said only a handful of players rehabbing from injuries remain in Clearwater, Fla. Everybody else has returned home.

“With the agreement reached last week between the league and the union, the doors are effectively closed to everybody other than the rehabs,” he said. “So right now we have just three or four guys that are using the facility for rehab purposes and otherwise we are closed, both the Major and Minor League side.”