Yankees News: Gary Sanchez has a fever, but it’s unclear if he will be tested for coronavirus

After catching back to back games for the first time this spring Gary Sanchez hasn’t appeared in a game since last Friday because of a sore back. Today the Yankees revealed the All-Star catcher is also dealing with a little bit of a fever.

With all the concern about the coronavirus surrounding the globe with each passing day, Sanchez was scheduled to meet with a doctor at some point on Tuesday. Whether he will be tested for coronavirus is unclear according to the Yankees team spokesman.

Sanchez was supposed to take batting practice on the field today and the Yankees said on Monday that the plan was for him to return to the lineup on Friday. We’ll have to wait and see if this latest setback prevents him from doing so. If it doesn’t Aaron Boone said during the YES network broadcast today that he could resume taking live batting practice against pitchers on Thursday.

The sooner Sanchez can return to the lineup the better because his timing at the plate has been off so far this spring. He only has one hit in 17 at-bats with seven strikeouts so he could use as many reps as possible over the course of the next two weeks.

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Early last week Gerrit Cole also apparently had a fever but he was able to make his scheduled start on Thursday. Today he made his fourth start of the spring against the Blue Jays and looked great, striking out six over 3.1 innings of work.

Could Cole be the reason why Sanchez got a fever of his own, who knows? Let’s just hope Gary can bounce back from this as quickly as his battery mate did and get back into his daily routine and continue preparing for the regular season.

The Sanchez news today comes a day after the MLB joined the NHL and NBA in banning the media from clubhouses over the fear of the coronavirus spreading. It’s a precautionary move by the leagues that might seem a little extreme but it’s also understandable especially in the case of major league baseball with Opening Day just 16 days away.

This is a world-wide issue and the last thing they want happening is for this to spread amongst the players so they should take whatever measure they feel is necessary.