Yankees Injury Report
Despite the Yankees having a good season so far, half of the team is on the injured list. Players the team relies on, including Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, are badly injured after they missed more games than people predicted. For example, Aaron Judge is out for a left oblique strain and Giancarlo Stanton is out for a shoulder injury and biceps strain. Twelve players are currently on the injured list and even though most of them have an idea of when they’re coming back, it's hard to predict how long it may take them to fully recover.
The team seems to be fine without their all-stars. Newbies such as DJ LeMahieu and Gio Urshela are becoming the stars of the show as Urshela became the Yankees’ regular third basemen since Miguel Andújar, the known third baseman was recently said to be off for the season due to surgery. Although the Yankees did lose to the Seattle Mariners 10-1 on May 8, they are currently 28-17 without the regular lineup players, currently placing first in the AL East.
It seems that shortstop Didi Gregorius is the player who has the longest time to recover. He got injured on September 22, 2018, as his right wrist got stuck under him while sliding into home plate. He is expected to return in June, July, or August after Tommy John surgery was performed on his right elbow. This is a surgery that replaces an arm’s torn ligament by using a healthy tendon. Gregorius is also expected to participate in at-bats in extended spring training games starting May 20th. "He's an important part of our lineup," said Aaron Hicks, who had no idea of the injury until Gregorius mentioned it on that Sunday morning. "He's a guy that we rely on day in and day out to play Gold Glove defense. He's an important piece to our team."
Clint Frazier is one of the most recent players who came off the injured list and as said previously, Miguel Andújar is out for the year. Andújar was placed on the list for about over a month for a partial tear of the labrum in his right shoulder. Frazier, on the other hand, was placed on the list on April 24 for a partial tear in his left ankle. But now Fraizer is back and even though Urshela is still in the place of Andúar, the team is still winning left and right, as they won the three-game series against the now second place team in the MLB, the Tampa Bay Rays from May 10-12th and May 17-19th. "More guys just continue to step up," manager Aaron Boone said after the team’s win during an interview with Dawn Klemish, a sports writer for the New York Yankees website. "I'm really proud of that effort. We have to grind and scratch for everything."
Overall, the New York Yankees have a long injured list, but the team is doing fine without the big players like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu are the new stars of the show, but of course, the team as a whole is showing great effort as they continue to keep up with their first place title. Winning against teams such as the Tampa Bay Rays and the Seattle Mariners are necessary for the Yankees, especially since they want their 28th World Series title.
