Source: Jim McIsaac / Getty
To quote the great Marcus Peters, COVID-19 is saying to the sport’s world right now, “I think we ain’t done yet.”
ESPN reports that MLB All-Star Aaron Judge is among six New York Yankees players who have tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday (Jul.15), sources revealed to the sports network. The positive diagnosis among the players led to the postponement of the Yankees home game against their bitter rivals, the Boston Red Sox, to kick off the second half of the MLB season.
Judge participated in this year’s MLB All-Star Game in Colorado. The league is currently testing his American League All-Star teammates to ensure they did not contract the highly contagious virus sources revealed to ESPN.
Along with Judge, third baseman Gio Urshela and catcher Kyle Higashioka were in the league’s COVID-19 protocols following positive rapid tests and are awaiting confirmation from tests with “greater accuracy,” sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman revealed relievers Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes Jr., and Wandy Peralta had confirmed positives and were placed on the COVID-19 injured list.
“It’s a fluid situation that could spread,” Cashman said. “It has spread to some degree.”
Judge testing positive is being felt across the league with players who participated in the All-Star game and came in contact with the Yankees’ slugger flying across the country to rejoin their teams resume the season, which features a full schedule of games on Friday (Jul.16). Speaking with ESPN’s Marly Rivera, Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers revealed that the team’s team’s five All-Stars “would undergo further testing on Thursday.” According to the sports network, unvaccinated players who participated in the All-Star game were tested, and all tests came back negative.
This is the second COVID-19 outbreak on the Yankees who have met the MLB’s 85% vaccination threshold, allowing them to relax protocols. Back in May, more than a half-dozen Yankees coaches caught COVID-19. Third-base coach Phil Nevin was one of those coaches. Nevin spent three weeks in the hospital but credited being vaccinated for saving him from a far worse outcome.
As for this current outbreak, the six players who have tested positive for COVID-19, the majority were vaccinated and were asymptomatic, according to Cashman. A clear indication the vaccine did its job.
The Yankees are currently in 4th place in the American League East and are looking to find a way to gain ground on the Boston Red Sox, who have an eight-game lead over them. This latest news is a huge setback the Bronx Bombers push to catch the Red Sox and get in the postseason.
Check out how Twitter reacted to the canceled game below:
Photo: Jim McIsaac / Getty
