Yankees’ Rizzo becomes fourth player to test positive for COVID-19 within week

Newly acquired New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo has become the fourth player on the team within a week to test positive for COVID-19.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Sunday that that the former Chicago Cubs player, who turned 32 on Sunday, had received a positive COVID-19 test following the team’s game on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.

Catcher Gary Sánchez and starting pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Gerrit Cole have also tested positive for the virus. Sánchez tested positive on Thursday, Montgomery on Tuesday and Cole on Monday.

“I just spoke with him, he’s doing all right,” Boone said of Rizzo, according to the AP. “He’s got symptoms but he’s doing OK. Obviously a little bummed out but hopefully a chance to get rested up and well and be back hopefully sooner rather than later.”

Boone did not bring up Rizzo’s vaccination status on Sunday, but Rizzo said in June while he was still with the Cubs that he had not received the COVID-19 vaccine because he was “taking some more time to see the data,” according to The New York Times.

The AP noted 85 percent of the Yankees’ team has been vaccinated, which Boone pointed to on Sunday.

“A large percentage of us obviously are, but I’m not going to get into that anymore,” Boone said.

The Yankees are not the only team to be down several players due to the coronavirus. 

The Washington Nationals had to postpone their game against the Phillies in late July because eight team staff members and four players had all returned positive COVID-19 tests, The Washington Post reported. Nationals manager Dave Martinez said at the time that he estimated that only one of the 12 people had been unvaccinated.