Thursday was a memorable day for the Yankees.
Before a game against rival Tampa Bay Rays, Zack Britton, a key reliever, became the 10th Yankee to spend time this season on the injured list. Then shortstop Gleyber Torres finished the game early with a tight left hamstring. After the game, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone revealed that Torres was not the only one who would undergo a magnetic resonance imaging investigation. James Paxton, the starter of that day, would join him due to discomfort in his forearm and elbow, a red flag for a jug.
The game itself was more of the same this season for the Yankees (16-9) against the Rays (17-9) this season: a 10-5 loss in which the Rays improved to 6-1 against them and moved a half game forward to grabbed first place in the American League East. And shortly after the final, Major League Baseball announced that the Yankees’ game at Citi Field on Friday had been postponed due to two positive cases of coronavirus on the Mets.
“Presence, we know, is irreversible and it will come in various ways and unexpected ways,” Boone said of all the injuries, but he could just as well have described the entire season entered amid a pandemic. “And by 2020, there have been a lot of unexpected ways.”
Thanks to their depth and deep pockets, the Yankees have broken a premier league record of 30 players who spent time on the injured list last season to win 103 games in the regular season and reach the American League Championship Series. Although the impact of an inn staff for health and performance takes time to manifest, the injury trend of the Yankees has continued into this shortened season of 60 games, and at a higher rate.
“It’s part of the game, but it’s crazy that it’s happening again,” said Yankees first baseman Luke Voit, who defeated his team-leading 10th home team on Thursday. It was his fifth blast in four games.
Since Aug. 9, the Yankees have placed four of their best players – outfielders Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring strain) and Aaron Judge (calf strain), infielder DJ LeMahieu (thumb sprain) and Britton (hamstring strain) – on the IL While Stanton and It is expected that LeMahieu will be out for several weeks, Judge may return as soon as Saturday.
However, most of these key players were unable to help the Yankees prevent their first sweep of the season, which was also the first time they were swept home in a three-game series since Cleveland did so in August 2017. The Rays have not had the Yankees since 2014 at Yankee Stadium in 2014.
“We’re playing them three more times and there’s a lot of season left, so I’m not really worried,” said Yankees reliever Adam Ottavino, who gave the Rays a tie in the sixth inning on Thursday before they left for good. He added, “But a little frustrating to be defeated so thoroughly.”
Britton is a naughty reliever in a Yankees bullpen that was somewhat weakened this month by Tommy Kahnle’s season-ending elbow surgery. Britton was on the mound when the Rays took the lead on Wednesday in the Yankees’ 4-2 loss. He felt tightness in his hamstring and had an MRI on Thursday morning.
Later in the day, Torres left the game after crashing the run to first base on a ground out. Boone said Torres received treatment after the game, and they believed it was not serious. But the Yankees were wary of Judge’s mild injury, placing him on the IL despite his plea against it.
The Yankees thought Paxton was slowly improving from his slow start to the season, which both sides attributed to his pre-season preparation was interrupted by back surgery in February. He said this week that he felt confident that he was improving his out-of-whack mechanics and slower speed.
Against the Rays on Thursday, Paxton started well, but waited in his later innings. Boone and catcher Erik Kratz noticed that Paxton flexed his arm. Boone said Paxton told him the area around his elbow and forearm felt “a little tight” when he went to five innings.
While the Yankees await the test results of Paxton and Torres, they will have more time to rebuild their roster. It was unclear how much of the Yankees ‘and Mets’ three-game series would be played this weekend. Due to a Covid-19 outbreak at the Miami Marlins, the Yankees saw their schedule disrupted last month and had to play three games against the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks ago.
“It’s tough and 2020 is like no other year,” Boone said. “One way we know what we’re signing up for and we sometimes knew there were going to be challenges.”
