Yankees’ hellish 2021 season continues with suspected COVID-19 issues

UPDATE: It’s Aaron Judge, Gio Urshela and Kyle Higashioka who are still undergoing testing. Great. Enjoy your weekend.

The three other Yankees position players who are in COVID-19 protocol are Aaron Judge, Kyle Higashioka, and Gio Urshela. Because Judge was at the All-Star Game with other players, this has triggered contact tracing questions for the Red Sox players (and presumably others).
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 15, 2021

Of course. OF. COURSE. If you thought the second half of the season was going to be fortuitous to the New York Yankees, think again.

On Thursday afternoon, the Bombers announced a couple of promising roster moves. Trey Amburgey was promoted from Triple-A. Zack Britton returned from the injured list. Sounds great, right?

Until you got to the part where it was revealed Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta were being placed on the COVID-19 injured list, where they would join the team’s best reliever in Jonathan Loaisiga.

Just in time for a make-or-break four-game set against the Boston Red Sox in the Bronx! Gotta love it.

Wait … it gets worse. Now, the Yankees have canceled batting practice ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Sox as they “work through COVID-19 testing and health and safety protocols.” Moments later, the game has been postponed.

That all but officially means there’s a COVID-19 scare amongst the roster and more players could be hitting the shelf as a result. But we’ll be waiting on that information in the coming minutes/hours.

Yankees have canceled pregame batting practice as they work through COVID-19 testing and health and safety protocols.
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) July 15, 2021

The Yankee are dealing with a COVID-19 issue right after the All-Star break.

This happened earlier in the year when multiple assistant coaches and staffers tested positive before a game against the Rays. Third base coach Phil Nevin was the biggest name of the bunch and he was in some pretty bad shape after his bout with the virus. He was vaccinated, too, so it was considered a “breakthrough positive.”

The Red Sox, one of few MLB teams that hasn't reached the 85% vaccination threshold, are out playing catch and look like they may take BP. The Yankees, one of the first teams to reach 85%, are dealing with their second COVID outbreak of the year.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) July 15, 2021

The disappointing aspect of all this is that the Yankees were among the first teams in all of MLB to exceed the 85% vaccination threshold among their roster and staff. They’ve already dealt with two scares three and a half months into the 2021 campaign.

While the Yankees reached the 85 percent vaccination threshold of tier 1 personnel not all their players were vaccinated.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 15, 2021

And here’s an update from general manager Brian Cashman:

Cashman: The Yankees have three positive tests, and three tests pending.
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) July 15, 2021

Most importantly, the health and wellbeing of the players/coaches/staffers takes precedent. Baseball is meaningless when you’re staring down the barrel of a potential COVID-19 outbreak.

However, fans can’t help but feel broken at this point. Everyone thought the second half would provide a refreshing start after the rollercoaster that was their first 88 games. It couldn’t get worse than that, right? RIGHT?!

Think again. The Yankees are already dealing with potentially detrimental problems just hours before the All-Star break is coming to a close.

Yankees: Aaron Judge at the All-Star Game might be most enjoyable part of season

The New York Yankees' lone representative (who actually played) in the All-Star Game was Aaron Judge and it really might be the best part of the season.

UPDATE: It’s Aaron Judge, Gio Urshela and Kyle Higashioka who are still undergoing testing. Great. Enjoy your weekend.

The Yankee are dealing with a COVID-19 issue right after the All-Star break.

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