Yankees still figuring out finer points of virus protocols

It’s going to take a while. The social distancing in the dugout is something the players have to constantly remind themselves about. The masks in the clubhouse are awkward and there is a natural instinct to fist bump that the players have to fight against.

And after a strikeout it’s hard for the catcher to not send the ball to third base to start a trip around the horn.

Playing in a pandemic is just weird and the health and safety protocol seems to be something that has some wrinkles to iron out.

After Gerrit Cole struck out out Mike Tauchman to lead off the bottom of the first inning of the Yankees’ instrasquad game Monday, catcher Gary Sanchez did what he would normally do. He threw it to third and it went around the infield.

Under the new protocol a ball that is touched by multiple players like that is put out of play.

Cole looked longingly at the ball as it went to the side.

“I liked that ball,” he seemed to say.

But with a fresh ball, Cole took on Miguel Andujar, who promptly put the new one out of play by crushing an opposite-field home run.

“We weren’t exactly sure if we were supposed to keep it or not. So we kind of made a joke about it. Looks like I probably should have kept it,” Cole said.

With baseball trying to play in the midst of a pandemic that shows no signs of slowing down, MLB and the union came up with an extremely detailed health and safety proto- col to try and keep the virus at bay. The testing policy has already had issues with the delivery to the testing facility in Utah and the staffing of testers. The accuracy of the testing has come into question in Texas with Joey Gallo getting two different results from the two types of testing: nasal swab and saliva.

Beyond that, however, the details of playing under these rules is just hard for players who have been going through the same routines for most of their lives. No sunflowers, no spitting, no fist bumps, no celebrations.

Even no soap? Reliever Adam Ottavino said he had to rush back to his locker on the first day of official workouts, because he forgot that there will no longer be soap provided in the showers under the new rules.

“It’s not a big deal, but you have to get used to it,” Ottavino said.

On the field, messing with a pitcher’s feel for a ball, however, is kind of a big deal. And it’s something that everybody is going to have to get used to.

“It’s one of those things so you got to get used to. In the regular season you strike somebody out and you throw to third base and you let the infielders kind of warm up, but, it’s a new rule,” Sanchez said. “At the beginning, I thought because we were, we’re playing amongst ourselves that it was not going to be a problem. Yeah, I think you can’t, from what I understand. Only five people are allowed to touch a ball and when they do, the ball has to come out of the commodity of play. But like I said, it’s one of those things that we just got to get used to.”

The rule that Cole and the Yankees were working through discourages the practice of throwing the ball around the infield after strikeouts, which was always seen as a way to keep defenders sharp, to try and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But it also says that “Any baseball that is put in play and touched by multiple players shall be removed and exchanged for a new baseball.”

So, if it’s discouraged, Cole could have kept the ball. It also says “shall be removed.” Not exactly clear.

“That’s something that we’ve got to make sure that we know exactly from a protocol standpoint,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after the game.

According to a MLB source, the Yankees played it right — they should always err on the side of caution and the ball should be out of play. The league, however, is tracking issues during this rebooted spring training and is trying to work with clubs to come up with answers.

Ottavino said these are things they just have to work their way through in this rebooted spring training. When it comes down to it, however, Ottavino said he’s not going to be keeping track of how many players have touched the ball or if he spit.

“I have no idea. I mean, I’m going to try not to think about it while I’m in a real game,” Ottavino said. “Now I’m trying to hold back just because that’s what it says in the protocol is not to do, so I am trying to hold back and get used to it, so it makes that second nature, the not spitting part…. It’s kind of a nervous tic maybe, so if that happens in the game, then we’ll address it then.”