Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius has been shut down from baseball activities for two weeks due to a shoulder strain, and thus will be placed on the 10-day DL to begin the season, manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including ESPN.com’s Andrew Marchand and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch). The injury is serious enough that Gregorius could be sidelined for all of April, Girardi said, with Yankees GM Brian Cashman also estimating a rough timeframe of six weeks.
Gregorius suffered the injury playing for the Netherlands’ World Baseball Classic team during a Spring Training exhibition against the Diamondbacks. He hurt his shoulder while making a throw as part of turning a double play, with Girardi noting (as per Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald) that Gregorius was playing out of position as a second baseman; the Netherlands is deep at short with Andrelton Simmons and Xander Bogaerts also on the roster.
[updated Yankees roster at Roster Resource]
No replacement was named for Gregorius at short, though Girardi said that second baseman Starlin Castro — who was the Cubs’ regular shortstop before converting to second in 2015 — will see some time at his old position during Spring Training. Girardi noted that star prospect Gleyber Torres is not under consideration to fill Gregorius’ shoes. Ronald Torreyes, Ruben Tejada, Donovan Solano, Pete Kozma and Tyler Wade are all candidates to fill in at short or possibly second, should Castro end up moving positions. Torreyes is the only one of that group currently on the 40-man roster, however, so another move would have to be made to create space.
While New York has some middle infield depth on hand, losing Gregorius is certainly a significant blow. The 27-year-old has hit .270/.311/.409 over 1175 PA in his first two seasons as Derek Jeter‘s heir apparent, showing some impressive pop last season with a career-high 20 home runs. Gregorius is still a below-average run creator for his career, though his offensive game has been aided by excellent skills on the basepaths (as per Fangraphs’ Baserunning metric). Defensively, Gregorius has had an up-and-down performance at shortstop over the last two seasons — he went from +5 Defensive Runs Saved and a +7.9 UZR/150 in 2015 to -9 DRS and a -3.4 UZR/150 last season.
No, goober Torres isn’t ready fans
Hope that’s a need for autocorrect!
Does Gleybar make the team?
He has never played above high A and putting him in the MLB for 10 days would speed up his arbitration clock.
asked about this in the mlbtr chat. asked who would take over
My guess is Torreyes and Tyler wade split time
I’m guessing Torreyes or Wade get the job. Not a chance Torres comes up despite his great Spring thusfar.
Hasn’t played a single game above A ball, I would be shocked if he made the roster out of camp.
Torreyes will probably get most of play as SS. If Didi does miss all of April or the majority of it that would be about 20+ games. The other option would be to add Tejada to the roster which is probably Plan B if necessary. Cashman has already said Torres isn’t an option. The Yankees would probably go to Tyler Wade before even considering Torres.
A Phillies beat writer suggested a Galvis trade, which might be interesting. Galvis has some pop and is a really strong defender
Although that would be dumb because the Yankees would have no spot for him when Didi comes back. Biased Phillies reporter who wants to get value out of him. If you look at the Yankees non-roster invitees, it makes no sense to give up a prospect for Galvis
Any chance they move Castro back to short and use someone like Refsnyder at second?
Not likely. Castro may get in a couple of games at SS but my guess is Torreyes will see the bulk of the action at SS if Didi is only expected to miss about a month (20 games +/-).
Yes that is likely because Torreyes will already be on the roster
Castro was very hit or miss defensively at short in Chicago, although that could be a nice short term solution until Didi is healthy
You don’t move one of the worst defensive players at 2nd base over to shortstop.
Torreyes at short and Refsnyder makes squad 1 more time to back up 2nd and Castro can cover short
would like to see castro at SS and Ref at 2b
I haven’t checked but how is Ruben Tejada doing in ST? I feel like this would help his chances out of anything. Would be funny to see Niese/Tejada on the same field in pinstripes
The horrendous WBC curse strikes again.
Not fair at all. Players get hurt during spring training. Look at Ian Desmond or Trevor May this year.
WBC : The only thing I watch about it is …. the injury reports.
What, like all three of them? There are literally dozens more injuries that have happened in Spring Training.
I say just let Tejada play until Didi is back. Torreyes will be exposed playing everyday.
Tejada is worse
I hadn’t realized the Yanks had signed Ruben.
Move Castro to SS and put Refsnyder in at 2B
WTF!
The Yankees will put Torres in SS why? So he will get some experience and the Yankees can see how ready he is for the majors..to me Torres is ready!!
No. Torres hasn’t played above Single-A. He won’t make the roster and he’s not ready
Didi’s arm is a key part of his game. Turns him from a below average SS to above. Its also his power shoulder at the plate. The fear is its a labrum or rotator cuff strain and they can linger. It was significant enough to cause a hematoma, so you just have to wait and see. This is Torres big chance, if he gets off to a hot start in AA and Didi has a set back in recovery he could get an early shot at MLB
Didi has a league average bat at worst. His defense brings him from above average to superb
Need to see some power from Ref and I cant see it. Without some he has no value at 2B since he has no glove
Gleyber Torres is not ready,nor is Tyler Wade or Mateo. Castro unfortunately will see some time at short and his lackadaisical play will hurt us bad.
Tyler Wade is definitely ready
What are you basing this on..his .259 BA or the 22 errors he committed at AA or the fact he’s not even on the 40 man roster. Maybe the fact he’s been used at second since they acquired Gleyber is another indication. Didi isn’t gonna be out for an extended time and it’s not like they’re WS favorites.
Kozma? Cosart?
Tough blow to Didi, hopefully he’s back soon. I’d imagine Torreyes getting the first game at short with Wade making the 25 man roster and then splitting time with Torreyes