ATLANTA (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles acquired Alex Jackson from the New York Yankees on Sunday after Gary Sánchez became their fourth catcher on the injured list.
Sánchez left Saturday night’s game against Atlanta with right knee pain and an MRI revealed a sprain. Interim manager Tony Mansolino said he did not have a timetable for Sánchez’s recovery.
Baltimore, which has 14 players on the IL, sent the Yankees $250,000 in international signing bonus pool allocation and a player to be named or cash.
Two-time All-Star Adley Rutschman has not played since June 19 because of a left oblique strain, Maverick Handley has been on the concussion IL since a collision at the plate with the Yankees' Jazz Chisholm Jr. on June 22 and Chadwick Tromp hasn't played since June 30 because of a lower back strain.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino said he did not have a timetable for Sánchez's recovery.
Jacob Stallings, who replaced Sánchez in Saturday's 9-6 win over the Braves in 10 innings, and Jackson, who was with the team for Sunday's game in Atlanta, will form the restructured depth chart at catcher. Stallings' contract was selected from Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday.
Mansolino said he is confident Jackson and Stallings, who started on Sunday, have the experience needed “to quickly catch up and make themselves an asset.”
Jackson, 29, hit .226 with 10 homers in 44 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season. He made his major league debut with Atlanta in 2019 and also has played for Miami and Milwaukee.
“Obviously you have a whole lot of time in the big leagues now with multiple teams,” Mansolino said, adding the Yankees are a “very forward-thinking organization.”
Infielder Jorge Mateo, who last played June 6 due to left elbow inflammation, was transferred to the 60-day IL to clear a roster spot for Jackson.
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Baltimore Orioles catcher Gary Sánchez, center, tags out Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson, right, at the plate in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Saturday, July 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. flu infections showed signs of a slight decline last week, but health officials say it is not clear that this severe flu season has peaked.
New government data posted Friday — for flu activity through last week — showed declines in medical office visits due to flu-like illness and in the number of states reporting high flu activity.
However, some measures show this season is already surpassing the flu epidemic of last winter, one of the harshest in recent history. And experts believe there is more suffering ahead.
“This is going to be a long, hard flu season,” New York State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said, in a statement Friday.
One type of flu virus, called A H3N2, historically has caused the most hospitalizations and deaths in older people. So far this season, that is the type most frequently reported. Even more concerning, more than 91% of the H3N2 infections analyzed were a new version — known as the subclade K variant — that differs from the strain in this year’s flu shots.
The last flu season saw the highest overall flu hospitalization rate since the H1N1 flu pandemic 15 years ago. And child flu deaths reached 289, the worst recorded for any U.S. flu season this century — including that H1N1 “swine flu” pandemic of 2009-2010.
So far this season, there have been at least 15 million flu illnesses and 180,000 hospitalizations, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates. It also estimates there have been 7,400 deaths, including the deaths of at least 17 children.
Last week, 44 states reported high flu activity, down slightly from the week before. However, flu deaths and hospitalizations rose.
Determining exactly how flu season is going can be particularly tricky around the holidays. Schools are closed, and many people are traveling. Some people may be less likely to see a doctor, deciding to just suffer at home. Others may be more likely to go.
Also, some seasons see a surge in cases, then a decline, and then a second surge.
For years, federal health officials joined doctors' groups in recommending that everyone 6 months and older get an annual influenza vaccine. The shots may not prevent all symptoms but can prevent many infections from becoming severe, experts say.
But federal health officials on Monday announced they will no longer recommend flu vaccinations for U.S. children, saying it is a decision parents and patients should make in consultation with their doctors.
“I can’t begin to express how concerned we are about the future health of the children in this country, who already have been unnecessarily dying from the flu — a vaccine preventable disease,” said Michele Slafkosky, executive director of an advocacy organization called Families Fighting Flu.
“Now, with added confusion for parents and health care providers about childhood vaccines, I fear that flu seasons to come could be even more deadly for our youngest and most vulnerable," she said in a statement.
Flu is just one of a group of viruses that tend to strike more often in the winter. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, also have been rising in recent weeks — though were not diagnosed nearly as often as flu infections, according to other federal data.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - Pharmacy manager Aylen Amestoy administers a patient with a seasonal flu vaccine at a CVS Pharmacy in Miami, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
