Yankees place Joey Gallo, Kyle Higashioka on COVID-19 injured list

The Yankees announced today that they’ve placed outfielder Joey Gallo and catcher Kyle Higashioka on the COVID-19 injured list. They also transferred catcher Ben Rortvedt to the 60-day IL.

Initially, it had been reported that Gallo would be on the bench for game one of today’s doubleheader because he was “under the weather.” Instead, he and Higashioka will be out for some amount of time dealing with the more serious malady. This marks the second time Higashioka will hit the COVID IL, with Higgy having missed nine games with COVID last summer.

Hopefully, both players recover swiftly and without complication. Each of them were with the club for their latest trip to Toronto, meaning both should be vaccinated against COVID-19, and should have better chances of returning quickly and safely.

For now, the Yankees will roll with Jose Trevino at catcher, with Rob Brantly backing up. (Reliver David McKay is also up with the big club.) The Yankees have a fair number of outfielders on the active roster, and will likely piece things together with Gallo out.