Report: Yankees' Judge, Higashioka, Urshela in protocol

Aaron Judge is among the Yankees players in the COVID protocol. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Report: Yankees' Aaron Judge, Kyle Higashioka, Gio Urshela in COVID-19 protocol

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Jul 15, 2021 7:03 PM ET

MLB confirmed earlier on Thursday that the series opener between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox was postponed due to a feared COVID-19 outbreak within the Yankees.

ESPN's Buster Olney has since reported All-Star Aaron Judge, third baseman Gio Urshela and catcher Kyle Higashioka are among Yankees players who are in the coronavirus-related protocols:

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

.@TheJudge44 helped escort Billye Aaron to the field for the ceremony.https://t.co/Gvd0b8xZAO
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) July 14, 2021

Understandably, Red Sox manager Alex Cora is concerned any one of his players exposed to Judge during the All-Star festivities held in Denver and at Coors Field could potentially test positive:

Red Sox manager Alex Cora says he is "worried" about his team's 5 All-Stars in light of Yankees outbreak. Said that of Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi and Matt Barnes, not all are vaccinated.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) July 15, 2021

Before Olney's update, The Associated Press (h/t ESPN) noted New York pitchers Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes and Wandy Peralta were on the COVID-19 injured list due to testing positive. General manager Brian Cashman said all three of those individuals were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.

It's possible, however, that not every Yankees player who could test positive is fully or even partially vaccinated:

Cashman said “not all but most” of the players who could end up positive are vaccinated. He said it was a combination of J&J and 2-shot vaccines among them. And he said the players with confirmed positive tests are doing well.
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) July 15, 2021

Cashman added the players affected by the feared outbreak were "OK" before Thursday's called-off game.

As of early Thursday evening, the Yankees remained scheduled to host the first-place Red Sox on Friday through Sunday pending the results of additional COVID-19 testing.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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