Yahoo Finance Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez diagnosed with flu but hasn't been tested for coronavirus
As fears about the coronavirus reach new heights, the New York Yankees are dealing with another health concern. Catcher Gary Sanchez was diagnosed Tuesday with the flu.
The news of out of Yankees camp was bad, both from a public health standpoint and an opening-day-is-in-two-weeks standpoint. Sanchez has tested positive for the flu, adding to an already long list of Yankees sidelined at this point in spring training.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced that Sanchez — who had been sick — will continue to be away from the team. And to answer the question possibly on the tip of your tongue: No, he hasn’t yet been tested for the coronavirus.
Gary Sanchez’s flu test came back positive, so he will be away from camp for a few more days. Aaron Boone said that Sanchez was not tested for the coronavirus.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 10, 2020
The news comes on the heels of Major League Baseball announcing Monday that it was limiting clubhouse access to players and essential staff to limit the spread of the coronavirus, which included a temporary ban on reporters.
As of right now, the league is still hoping to open the season as scheduled on March 26 with fans in the stands. That could change, of course, in the next two weeks.
The Yankees, meanwhile, have already lost Luis Severino to Tommy John surgery, James Paxton to a back injury and are looking at opening day without injured sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
The flu shouldn’t linger with Sanchez long enough to affect his opening day status, but given everything that’s gone wrong for the Yankees since camps opened, getting even tangentially associated with the coronavirus scare is just another spring speed bump they’d prefer didn’t happen.
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