Chris Capuano Likely To Open Season On DL

Yankees left-hander Chris Capuano suffered a Grade 2 strain of his right quadriceps while covering first base in today’s Grapefruit League game and is expected to open the season on the disabled list, writes MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Capuano had been expected to fill a spot in an already thin Yankees rotation, but his injury will open the door for candidates such as Esmil Rogers, Adam Warren, Bryan Mitchell and non-roster invitee Scott Baker.

The 36-year-old Capuano signed a one-year, $5MM contract with the Yankees this winter after he impressed them in a half-season’s worth of work last year. After being released by the Red Sox in July, Capuano signed with the Rockies and then was traded to the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations. With New York, the southpaw notched a 4.25 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in 65 2/3 innings. Metrics such as FIP (3.85), xFIP (3.78) and SIERA (3.85) all felt that his work with the Yanks was better than his ERA indicated.

There’s currently no timetable for his return, but manager Joe Girardi told reporters that he’d “be surprised if [Capuano]’s not down for awhile.” GM Brian Cashman expressed earlier in the day that he’s been very impressed by Rogers thus far, Hoch writes, saying that Rogers would be “one of the guys we’re really looking at.”

The Yankees’ projected rotation right now includes Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Nathan Eovaldi and Michael Pineda, though Tanaka is attempting to pitch through a minor tear in his UCL, Sabathia missed most of last season with knee injuries and Pineda has just 247 innings in the Majors since debuting in 2011, due largely to shoulder injuries.