Around the Empire: Yankees news - 7/7/20

CBS Sports | Katherine Acquavella: Major League Baseball released the 2020 season schedule in a one-hour TV special on Monday night. The Yankees and Nationals will kick the year off with a 7 PM game on Thursday, July 23. The Bombers should have a pretty sweet stretch run, too, as Tom Verducci noted that 20 of their final 23 games come against teams who lost at least 95 games in 2019.

NorthJersey.com | Pete Caldera: Coronavirus testing across the league has not gone smoothly. Teams like the Nationals and A’s have experienced logistical nightmares, as MLB failed to deliver tests, PPE, and other vital tools to get summer camp safely off the ground. The Yankees were the latest team to run into such a snafu, as the club never received a visit from testers on Sunday. Thankfully the Bombers were able to use leftover tests they had in-house to keep everyone on schedule. Simply put, the league needs to do better. Safety cannot be compromised.

NJ.com | Brendan Kuty: Andrew McCutchen, who played 25 games in the regular season with the Yankees in 2018, is one of baseball’s most thoughtful voices. In a recent interview on The Sports Bubble podcast, he made the case against the Yankees’ facial hair policy. “I definitely do think it takes away from our individualism as players and as people,” McCutchen said. ““We express ourselves in different ways.” Cutch is someone worth listening to. And, for related reading, consider a classic PSA article by emeritus writer Kunj Shah, “It’s time for the Yankees to update their facial hair policy.”