Yankees: Why wasn’t Aroldis Chapman available vs Blue Jays on Thursday?

It’s a classic New York Yankees move for ya. Why let anyone know about this before the game when you can simply … let everyone guess what’s happening when said player is expected to be called upon?

That’s what happened with Aroldis Chapman on Thursday night.

In the second game of the doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Bombers were victorious by a score of 5-3. Fun stuff. Homers from Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez got the job done. Jordan Montgomery was just good enough.

But in a 5-3 game heading into the final inning, why wasn’t Chapman out there for the save?

Instead, it was Chad Green. In fact, Chapman was nowhere to be found! Nobody saw him in the bullpen, as noted by a number of Yankees reporters.

We had to wait until the postgame to get the information we needed. With all of the injuries as of late, why do this to us?

Aroldis Chapman wasn’t available for the Yankees because he was sick.

Oh boy. Is it COVID-related? Will he be available for the series against the Detroit Tigers this weekend?

It’s suspected Chapman has a “bug.” He continues to test negative for COVID-19, according to manager Aaron Boone, but perhaps he’s too sick to travel with the team? You don’t want the rest of the roster getting sick. It’s already a skeleton crew.

It’s possible he doesn’t make it to Detroit, but it’s unclear when we’ll know. It might be best to play it safe, but we’re sure the medical staff is on it and giving the team the best advice (… or are they? Ha!).

Nonetheless, Chapman hasn’t pitched in four days. If he doesn’t travel with the team to face the Tigers, that’ll push it to seven days. It wouldn’t be out the realm of possibility that the Yankees opt to place him on the 10-day injured list to allow him some time to get back into the swing of things. They can’t afford another star player going down at this point.

Chapman’s been lights out all year. He didn’t surrender his first run of the season until last week. His arm will need consistent work, and if he’s not able to pitch for a week, it might be best to clear a roster spot, bring someone else up, and let him throw some bullpen sessions before tossing him back into game action.

The sky isn’t falling, Yankees fans, but this situation is worth monitoring closely.

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