Just when everyone was reassured that Covid 19 would be less of an issue, seven New York Yankee staff members have tested positive for the virus. What makes this more remarkable is that all are “breakthrough” cases, meaning that they have become infected after being fully vaccinated.
What concerns this writer is that with all of these guys being fully vaccinated, why has the virus spread so quickly through the group. Little has been revealed as to what vaccine they received and when they received it.
Although the New York Yankees say no players have tested positive, there is a mystery going on with Gleyber Torres, the Yankee’s shortstop who was left off the lineup last night in “an abundance of caution.” Apparently, all of the Yankee staff have been tested at least 3 times since arriving in Tampa. It seems as though Torre’s test was inconclusive. The Yankees are waiting for all the tests to be returned as of last night’s game.
Manager Aaron Boone has not commented on exactly what is going on with Torres, only saying, “We do expect that final ruling or whatever, potentially by tonight.†As of the end of the game last night, there was no further information available. If Torres is indeed infected, it could potentially cause big problems for the team going forward.
The New York Yankees were the first team in baseball to reach the 85% vaccination rate suggested by MLB to reduce some of the protocols. You have seen fewer players and staff wearing their masks in recent games and paying attention to the social distancing suggestions. That was not the case last night; all management and several players were masked when not on the field.
On Tuesday and Wednesday night, the player development coach was filling in as the first base coach. Boone’s bench coach Carlos Mendoza was on the field taking Phil Nevin’s place as third-base coach. Also notable absent last night was pitching coach Matt Blake. Blake is the third Yankee coach to be confirmed case of the Covid 19 virus. Boone said he is asymptomatic, as are six of the seven other virus cases.
Filling in for Blake was bullpen coach Mike Harkey who also manned the bullpen and has been seen talking to pitchers in the dugout, particularly Jordan Montgomery on Tuesday night. Blake, although not on the field, is still working with pitchers through text and Facetime.
“He’s been FaceTiming a little bit. I’ve been texting with him about (Thursday) for my start, but for the most part, like not to say we don’t need him, we obviously do. He’s great to have around and he’s great at his job. But we have a lot of guys that kind of coach each other‚†Jameson Taillon said. “Like tomorrow, I’m sure Gerrit (Cole) will be right there with me every step of the way. We’ve got Harkey, we got (director of pitching) Sam Briend here today and our pitching staff talks amongst each other.â€
No one knows how this will out pan out, but the writers and management of EmpireSportsMedia.com hope all the Yankees recover quickly and that it doesn’t affect the team or any other team this baseball season.