"Didn’t have this on my bingo card" - Yankees fans in disbelief as team places Ian Hamilton on COVID Injury List

The New York Yankees swept the Chicago White Sox on their home turf, registering their 33rd victory of the season. The Yankees are currently leading both the AL East and the American League.

However, their successful campaign has had a slight setback. The 28-year-old right-handed reliever, Ian Hamilton, has been placed on a seven-day COVID IL, becoming the first player to go there since July 2022. Clayton Andrews has been called to take his place.

Fans took to social media to share their worry about the pandemic disease that was supposed to be a thing of the past. Instead, it made a brief comeback in the league, raising fans' concerns.

“Didn’t have this on my bingo card,” a fan commented.

“Covid is still around?” a fan replied.

“We talking about Covid in 2024,” a fan tweeted.

Hamilton played 19 games this season with an ERA of 3.18 in 22.2 innings. He pitched for 5.1 innings in his last five games, earning three runs with six strikeouts.

“Let's hope it doesn't spread to the rest of the team,” a fan tweeted.

“They bringing Covid back,” a fan replied.

“Manfred totally forgot that the Covid IL list was never officially retracted,” a fan commented.

The Yankees have the best pitching records right now in both leagues. They ranked first in combined earned runs (2.81 ERA), saves (18), batting average against (.213 BAA) and earned the fewest runs (134 ER) in the league.

The Bronx Bombers are on a seven-game winning streak and are preparing to continue that with the Seattle Mariners starting Monday.

Yankees reliever Ian Hamilton believes in the “Yankee effect.”

Before getting placed on the IL, Ian Hamilton was one of the Yankees’ regular relievers. He credited the team’s coaching staff for their winning streak and believed that a “Yankee effect" pushed him to perform better in pinstripes.

"There's a lot of reassurance, of showing what we do can get people out all the time," Hamilton said about the Yankees' coaching staff, via ESPN.

"It sounds ridiculous, but then [there's] the Yankee Effect. When you're in the bullpen here, you just want to perform, and you want to show off for the Yankees. It doesn't make it easy, but that motivation is like always here. There's always that drive."

The Yankees have several players on the IL who are waiting for their season to start, including core players like Gerrit Cole, DJ LeMahiru and Oswald Peraza. They are rehabbing and may join the main lineup soon.