New York Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela has been placed on the COVID-19 injured list after experiencing side effects from getting the vaccine.

Urshela was supposed to be hitting eighth in the order for Friday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. But the team placed him on IL just before the first pitch. In a corresponding move, infielder Mike Ford was recalled from the alternate site.

Numerous members of the organization received the vaccine on Wednesday. The team issued an accompanying statement:

“The New York Yankees would like to offer their sincere thanks to Dr. Philip Ozuah, President of Montefiore Medical Center, and the hard-working and dedicated group of medical staff from this Bronx-based hospital,” the statement read, via ESPN's Marly Rivera, “who have been on-site at Yankee Stadium this evening to administer COVID vaccinations to New York Yankees players, coaches, field staff and support staff. This process has been seamless and efficient, and we are grateful that by receiving the vaccine, we can contribute to stopping the spread of COVID-19.”

Article Continues Below

Urshela seems to be dealing with some setbacks after getting the vaccine.

The 29-year-old has been a critical piece for the Yankees in the past couple of years, hitting .314 with a .889 OPS in 2019 and posting a career-high 138 OPS+ in 2020. He had gotten off to a bit of a slower start in 2021, hitting .261 with a .596 OPS.

New York is quite used to playing without its starters. The Bronx Bombers have endured a myriad of injuries to Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton in the past couple of seasons and were already without Luke Voit (meniscus) to start the 2021 campaign.

The Yankees will have to deal with being down another starter with Urshela on the shelf for the time being.