That losing series against the lowly Orioles was even more brutal than the Yankees originally thought.
Both Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar landed on the 10-day injured list prior to Monday night's game against the Tigers. Stanton strained his left biceps Sunday on what Aaron Boone called a "funky swing," and Andujar has a right shoulder strain, the Yankees announced. Andujar was injured on a dive back to third base, according to YES Network's Jack Curry.
That vaunted _ and originally crowded _ outfield will be looking a little thin for at least a few weeks. Stanton will be shut down for 10 days, then re-evaluated, Boone said, "and hopefully getting back at some point this month." There was no update on Andujar prior to the game, because that injury was announced after the manager's news conference.
DJ LeMahieu played third, and was originally in the starting lineup. Tyler Wade, who was furious after not making the roster out of spring training, was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Stanton believes he injured himself swinging on a 3-and-1 pitch in the sixth inning Sunday. At first he thought it could be a cramp, or something else he could play through. After the adrenaline subsided, he said, it was clear he'd hurt himself more than he originally thought, and an MRI revealed a Grade 1 strain.
He joins fellow outfielder Aaron Hicks, who hasn't begun baseball activity, in the legion of injured Yankees, along with Jacoby Ellsbury. The Yankees have nine players on the injured list, not counting an injured CC Sabathia, who is serving a suspension but isn't expected to be healthy enough to pitch until mid- to late April. Outfielder Clint Frazier was called up from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, though Mike Tauchman got the start Monday.
"We're talking about really good players that we're missing," Boone said. "But one of the things that we feel is that we are equipped to handle this. I feel like we have a club capable of weathering that storm and go out there with the expectation that we're going to win a lot of games, even though we're playing a little bit short right now."
Stanton played through a balky hamstring last season, when he had a relative down year, hitting .266 with 38 home runs. When he told Boone he'd likely need a few days to recover from this injury, it was clear that it could be trouble, Boone said.
"That was kind of a red flag just because, knowing what he usually plays through," Boone said. "When he knew that right away, a little bit of concern. It's disappointing that he's got to go on (IL) for a little bit but I feel like in a way it was pretty good news considering what it could have been."
Because this injury affects his bat speed, the down time was pretty non-negotiable, Stanton said. Gary Sanchez suffered a similar injury at the beginning of the 2017 season and missed about a month.
"There's different gauges of things," Stanton said. "When you're talking about quickness of your swing, you can't really have too many things bringing that down. You can battle through certain things, but not that type.
"I don't like it at all. Just worked for six weeks to get here, plus the offseason, so I much rather this would have popped in in spring training, but it's where we're at."
