Spring training 1.0 for the New York Yankees presented more health problems for the team. Giancarlo Stanton had a calf injury, Gary Sanchez had back soreness, James Paxton was recovering from back surgery, slugger Aaron Judge had shoulder problems that turned out to be a fractured rib, and the big blow to the team was the loss of star pitcher Luis Severino that needed Tommy John surgery. He will be out the entire baseball season.
Then came the MLB shutdown caused by the coronavirus. Although a horrible situation for the team and the country as a whole, if you look on the bright side there was a silver lining for the New York Yankees. The team for the most part was able to get healthy during the shutdown and the nasty negotiations that led up to summer camp in New York’s Yankee Stadium.
Fast forward to summer camp and it looked like the Yankees would be whole with the exception missing Luis Severino and Domingo German, who will miss the entire season, fulfilling the remainder of his suspension, causing him to miss the entire regular season. The one question was the apparent slow healing of Aaron Judge’s rib, but even that seems to have turned out okay for the Yankees as demonstrated recently by the superstar.
As the New York Yankees players arrived in New York for summer camp everything seemed to be set for the beginning of the season, with the lineup pretty well set and every position player knew where they will be playing with the exception of Miguel Andujar, who looked like he would fill a role that included the outfield, and being a frequent DH. It appeared that he might see some play at 1st and 3rd as well.
As players were doing intake tests it was discovered that last year’s MVP second baseman DJ LeMahieu tested positive for the coronavirus, then long reliever Luis Cessa had a bad test as well. Both of those players are not at the stadium as they quarantine at home with various symptoms.
As the first week of summer camp came to a close, manager Aaron Boone was already making plans on how to replace those two players. But there was a bigger blow to the team in the offing. With just eleven days to the start of the season, the Yankee closer, Aroldis Chapman has failed his coronavirus test. The Yankees according to the health initiative test all the players every two days for the virus.
Now Boone and company have even more changes to figure out. Neither of the three aforementioned players will be ready for play on opening day. According to the health protocol, each player will have to self-quarantine for two weeks and then test negative in two tests two days apart, before being allowed back in the stadium. Even if they are all negative they will still need at least week to ramp up for play. Boone made the statement that Chapman will not be available for the foreseeable future. Why he used that term is unknown.
So, right now, things have changed for the New York Yankees. They do have options to fill these positions. The easiest one is to have Zack Britton replace Chapman. If you recall Britton was the closer for the Baltimore Orioles just a year and a half ago. Britton for the Yankees last season pitched in 66 games and ended the season with a 3-1 record and an incredibly low ERA of 1.91. Adam Ottavino eclipsed Britton’s ERA but Boone will use Britton in the closer role as he has the experience. Britton also saved three games for the Yankees last season.
A more difficult decision for Boone is how to replace DJ LeMahieu at second. The logical choice appears to be, moving Gleyber Torres to second. However, that leaves shortstop open to Tyler Wade or even Gio Urshela, who has experience at short. If Boone chooses the Gio option that would then put Miguel Andujar back at third base. The other main option is to leave things as-is and place Tyler Wade at second.
The elephant in the Stadium right now and for the entire season, is what happens when even more players test positive which is bound to happen. The Yankees are lucky in some ways, as having a great bench and bullpen loaded with talent. Even if a pitcher tests positive, they have options there too. Jonathan Losisgia, Clarke Schmidt, and Mike King will be able to fill in in the rotation.
So as the regular season fast approaches the Yankees will hope that the rest of the players stay healthy, especially new Yankee ace Gerrit Cole who is scheduled to make the start on opening day in the nation’s capital on July 23rd. He is supposed to face the Washington National’s ace, Max Scherzer. The one thing we know for certain is that nothing is going to be certain in this increasingly infected coronavirus season.
Dugout cam king @TorresGleyber pic.twitter.com/hIEhtQTQZj
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 11, 2020
EmpireSportsMedia.com’s Columnist William Parlee is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. Follow me on Twitter @parleewilliam