Despite the win, yesterday was a tough day for the Yankees. They lost Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar to injuries, and the Andujar injury is especially serious. He has a “small” labrum tear and may need season-ending surgery. Andujar and the Yankees will see how he responds to treatment and rehab over the next few weeks before making the surgery decision.
“That’s a tough one, especially the labrum. Anything in the shoulder is pretty complicated. We’ll see how it turns out. He’s a tough individual. He’ll fight through it, no matter how long it is and come back stronger than ever,” Aaron Judge said to Bryan Hoch and Coley Harvey yesterday. “Guys just step up. That’s it. We got a deep farm system, a deep organization, and when guys go down, everyone’s ready to step up and fill their spot.”
The Yankees have a ready-made replacement for Andujar in DJ LeMahieu. Stanton will be replaced by Clint Frazier, who wasn’t available to replace Judge last year. That was a big missed opportunity for Clint. Hopefully he capitalizes on Stanton’s absence and solidifies his long-term place with the Yankees. Here are tonight’s lineups:
New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. 1B Luke Voit
4. SS Gleyber Torres
5. 3B DJ LeMahieu
6. LF Mike Tauchman
7. DH Clint Frazier
8. 2B Tyler Wade
9. C Austin Romine
RHP Masahiro Tanaka
Detroit Tigers
1. 2B Josh Harrison
2. RF Nick Castellanos
3. DH Miguel Cabrera
4. 3B Jeimer Candelario
5. 1B John Hicks
6. LF Christin Stewart
7. CF Dustin Peterson
8. C Grayson Greiner
8. SS Jordy Mercer
RHP Jordan Zimmermann
It is cold and cloudy in the Bronx and there are some light showers in the forecast later this evening. Doesn’t look like anything that will significantly delay or impact the game. They might play through some rain drops in the late innings, if anything. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network. Enjoy the game.
Injury Updates: CC Sabathia (knee) threw four innings in an Extended Spring Training game yesterday. He’s going to throw five innings with High-A Tampa on Sunday, and if all goes well, he could make his next start after that with the Yankees … Dellin Betances (shoulder) threw a bullpen session today and will face hitters next … Luis Severino (shoulder) is still long-tossing and hasn’t thrown a bullpen session.
Misc. Notes: Greg Bird took ground balls at third base this afternoon, something he’s done many times in the past, though Aaron Boone confirmed Bird is the emergency guy at the hot corner with Andujar down. “It’s not that far-fetched,” said the skipper … As expected, Jonathan Loaisiga will start tomorrow’s series finale. He’ll be the corresponding move when Sabathia is activated off the suspended list and placed on the injured list.