The Yankees opened up their current homestand on Tuesday night against the Chicago White Sox with a 3-2 loss at Yankee Stadium. They’re without Nestor Cortes and Aaron Judge for the time being, but will they be able to get in all of their scheduled games this week?
We don’t know what Mother Nature will bring from the standpoint of precipitation. But, if the air quality issues caused by the Canadian wildfires continue to get worse, we could see some postponements.
SNY’s Andy Martino reported on the issue after speaking with someone who has direct knowledge of how this situation would work. Games getting postponed because of air quality are out of the hands of clubs. It’s up to Major League Baseball and in consultation with the Players’ Association.
There were no complaints from players about air quality following Tuesday night’s game. However, it’s not like we couldn’t see that something different was happening in the area. This isn’t the kind of baseball sky we typically get to enjoy:
Views from Yankees Stadium after the Canada wildfires 😳
(via @BrendanKutyNJ)pic.twitter.com/TtKxzZJFx2
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 6, 2023
So, if games in the Bronx were to get postponed this week, how does the decision get made? Here are some details from Martino:
In order to arrive at these decisions, MLB speaks to medical and weather experts. These experts take into account not only the air quality index (API), but the expected duration of the issue and whether a high API is expected to be sustained. When the experts recommend a postponement, the league follows that advice.
Per AirNow.gov, an API of 151-200 is classified as “unhealthy;” 201-250 “very unhealthy;” and 251-300 “hazardous.”
Triple-A games for both the Mets and Yankees were canceled on Tuesday because the API was greater than 200. Martino notes in his article that at the start of the Yankees-White Sox game, the API was 159. However, it rose up to 196 by the seventh inning.
It sounds like MLB is more concerned with other areas of the northeastern portion of the United States than New York City. But, it’s a situation that will continue to get monitored. So, if you’re headed to the game this week and assume all is fine because it’s not raining, think again and double-check.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.