Red Sox vs. Yankees Postponed amid New York's COVID-19 Issues

Joseph Zucker @@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVJuly 15, 2021

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 6: A New York Yankees baseball hat sits on top of a glove in the Yankee dugout against the Boston Red Sox during the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium on June 6, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)

Adam Hunger/Getty Images

Thursday's game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees has been postponed because of COVID-19-related issues within the Yankees organization, the Bronx club announced.

The team announced earlier in the day it had placed Nestor Cortes and Wandy Peralta on the COVID-19 injured list.

Speaking with reporters, general manager Brian Cashman said Cortes, Peralta and Jonathan Loaisiga tested positive and that three results are still pending:

Yankees Videos @snyyankees
Brian Cashman shares that Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes Jr. & Wandy Peralta have tested positive for COVID-19, and that 3 more players have pending lab tests after their rapid tests came back positive <a href="https://t.co/TTfFLYPrF3">pic.twitter.com/TTfFLYPrF3</a>

Cashman added that "most" of the players in question have been vaccinated.

According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the trio of Aaron Judge, Kyle Higashioka, and Gio Urshela are in the COVID-19 protocols. Judge represented the American League in the 2021 MLB All-Star Game, which is raising concerns about how the situation will evolve:

Andy Martino @martinonyc
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.

Cashman said MLB will have discretion over whether the Yankees and Red Sox play Friday as part of their originally scheduled four-game series.

This was the only matchup on Thursday and signified the start of second half of the regular season following the All-Star break.

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Beyond the already high intensity in any game between these two rivals, this also provided the Yankees with an opportunity to make up ground, as New York is eight games behind the first-place Red Sox.

The Associated Press reported in June that 22 franchises had at least 85 percent of their players and on-field staff vaccinated. That's the number required for teams to have the luxury of relaxing some COVID-19 protocols.

The Yankees hit the benchmark in April and experienced some breakthrough cases the following month.