The Yankees’ Alex Verdugo Might Have a Very Awkward Allergy

Over the course of his career to date, the New York Yankees’ Alex Verdugo has amassed 760 hits in Major League Baseball, 67 of which were home runs, for a respectable career batting average of .273. This season, his first for the Yankees, hasn’t been quite as memorable for him from an offensive perspective — and the reason why feels like a nightmare for any professional athlete. Like many baseball players, Verdugo wears batting gloves when he’s hitting. Unfortunately, it turns out he’s allergic to them.

Verdugo told NJ.com’s Randy Miller that a doctor recently told him that his batting gloves of choice were giving him dermatitis. As Miller writes, the gloves contained cobalt and chromate, both of which can trigger allergic reactions. As Verdugo recounted to NJ.com, the Franklin batting gloves that he uses contain both substances. And it’s possible that irritation on his skin could have an adverse effect on his batting this season.

Miller also spoke with a pair of doctors who identified a different culprit for Verdugo’s allergies: his tattoos. Turns out both cobalt and chromate can be used in tattooing, and that can lead to the (literally) uncomfortable sensation of being allergic to the artwork on your own body.

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Thankfully for Verdugo, he does have a few options, including medication that can target irritated skin. NJ.com reported that he’s contacted Franklin about the possibility of having hypoallergenic batting gloves made; a company representative told Miller that they were researching ways to develop an allergen-free glove.

“I have my people looking into exactly what goes into the leather,” Franklin’s senior director of baseball operations, John Ballas, told NJ.com. “Once we get the final determination, I’ll figure out how we can make something for Alex that won’t give him an allergic reaction.” Hopefully once that comes about, it’ll be able to help more players struggling with the same allergy as well.