Ballplayers get sick all the time. They get colds. They get the flu. They get “flulike symptoms” which may be the flu and may just be a hangover. It’s a long season, they live and work in close quarters and spend a lot of time on airplanes. Occupational hazard.
And normally, unless it impacts a pitcher’s start or something, we don’t make a note of it because it’s pretty mundane as far as news goes. Given all that’s going on in the world at the moment, however, we’d be remiss if we did not pass this along:
Gary Sanchez is not at Steinbrenner Field. He has a fever and will be evaluated by a team doctor. Yankees PR says they do not know if he is being tested for coronavirus.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) March 10, 2020
Sánchez’s absence was noted because he was supposed to take batting practice today after missing several days due to a bad back. That aside, the fact of any player having a fever at a time when a large scale viral epidemic is going on is at least worth watching. I mean, there is nothing making ballplayers immune to it.
UPDATE:
Gary Sanchez tested positive for the flu, Aaron Boone said. He was not tested for coronavirus. #Yankees
— Ken Davidoff (@KenDavidoff) March 10, 2020