Report: Judge among Yankees in COVID-19 protocol as game vs. Red Sox postponed
Major League Baseball postponed its second-half opener between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox on Thursday due to the Yankees producing multiple positive COVID-19 tests, the league announced.
The postponement allows for the Yankees to undergo continued COVID-19 testing and contact tracing. They canceled batting practice to begin contact tracing shortly before the game was postponed.
"We have three positives and we have three pending (test results)," general manager Brian Cashman told reporters, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. All of the positive and suspected cases are players, Cashman added. The pending results are from rapid testing.
Earlier Thursday, the Yankees placed pitchers Wandy Peralta and Nestor Cortes on the COVID-19 injured list. Peralta and Cortes made it three Yankees pitchers on the COVID IL, along with Jonathan Loaisiga, who was put on the list last week.
Kyle Higashioka, Gio Urshela, and Aaron Judge - who started for the American League in Tuesday's All-Star Game - are also in COVID-19 protocols, ESPN's Buster Olney reports.
There were five Red Sox players at this year's All-Star Game - Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi, and Matt Barnes - and they shared a clubhouse with Judge. Not all of them are fully vaccinated, manager Alex Cora said, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. All five have been asked to undergo additional COVID-19 testing, reports ESPN's Marly Rivera.
MLB conducted Covid testing each day MLB players were in Denver for All-Star events, and there were no positive tests. But Aaron Judge had to enter Covid protocol following a test result upon returning to Yankees. MLB is now looking into close ASG contacts as @Buster_ESPN said
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 16, 2021
One of the Yankees players who tested positive was unvaccinated, but he's asymptomatic, just like those who are fully vaccinated, Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal reports.
The three confirmed positive cases — Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes, and Wandy Peralta — were all vaccinated, Brian Cashman said. Two J&J, one mRNA.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) July 15, 2021
New York previously reached the 85% vaccination threshold and clubhouse restrictions were relaxed, although not all of its players are fully vaccinated, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.
This is the Yankees' second COVID-19 issue of the season after one involving the team's coaching staff in May.
No makeup date for Thursday's game was announced, and the league hasn't made a decision yet about Friday's contest, Cashman noted, according to Lindsey Adler of The Athletic.