Yankees Lose Yet ANOTHER Star Player to the COVID List

 

This has been a rough season for the New York Yankees, trying to navigate their way through trials and tribulations of the coronavirus pandemic. They've had 3 COVID-19 outbreaks, and now new first baseman Anthony Rizzo has tested positive and will join Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery on the Covid IL. 

The difference with Rizzo's case and many of the previous Yankees infections, is that Rizzo is unvaccinated. 

Anthony Rizzo positive for Covid. This is a danger of being unvaccinated. Of course the Yankees also have the sport’s record for vaccinated players getting Covid.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 8, 2021

As intimated by MLB insider Jon Heyman, players who are unvaccinated will continue to put their team's chances at risk as we enter the playoff races down the stretch. On the other hand, the Yankees, for unknown reasons, also have the most "breakthrough" infections in baseball—players fully vaccinated who still test positive. 

The Yankees are actually one of the teams who have reached the 85% vaccination mark, which allows for relaxed protocols. But according to reports, most on the team received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which, as the report says, seems to be less effective than the Pfizer or Moderna versions of the coronavirus vaccine. 

Rizzo is a cancer survivor, making his choice to remain unvaccinated even more of a head-scratcher, and he is so far, according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone, experiencing "light symptoms." We certainly wish Rizzo well. 

The news comes at an unfortunate time for the Yankees, who are 8-1 since inserting Rizzo into their lineup following the trade deadline acquisition on July 29th. He has an OPS of .963 in pinstripes, and the Yanks have moved to within 1.5 games of a Wild Card spot. 

Photo Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports