Aaron Boone recently offered some words of encouragement regarding the imminent return of first baseman Greg Bird to the lineup (h/t Marc Carig of The Athletic). But while Bird’s activation appears to be “around the corner”, news surrounding fellow Yankees hitter Jacoby Ellsbury is not as promising. Ellsbury is reportedly dealing with a minor back injury and as such is not participating in baseball activities at this time. The outfielder made just 406 plate appearances last season and has yet to make his 2018 debut. Unfortunately, Ellsbury’s absence is not the end of the bad news for the Yankees this week, as it turns out hard-hitting outfield prospect Estevan Florial will require surgery on a broken hamate bone (according to a tweet from George A. King III of the New York Post). The injury will keep him sidelined until at least August. Florial was off to somewhat of a slow start at the High-A level, posting a .246/.353/.343 slash line across 156 plate appearances.
More out of the East…
- Phillies righty Jerad Eickhoff is set to begin a rehab assignment, according to Matt Breen of the Philly Enquirer. He’ll kick it off at Triple-A LeHigh Valley. Eickhoff has been sidelined since spring training due to a lat strain, and at this time it’s not clear how he’d fit into a suddenly crowded Phillies rotation that includes Aaron Nola, Nick Pivetta, Jake Arrieta, Vince Velasquez and Zach Eflin.
- The Red Sox haven’t gotten any particularly good news about Carson Smith in recent days. According to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, manager Alex Cora says the club can’t determine at this time whether or not the righty will pitch again this season. Smith was off to a serviceable start this season, posting a 3.77 ERA and 11.30 K/9 in his first 14 1/3 innings before going down with a shoulder subluxation.
- The Blue Jays are describing left-hander Jaime Garcia’s injury as “left shoulder inflammation”. He’s been placed on the DL retroactive to May 16th. The Jays brought Garcia into the fold this past offseason on a one-year deal worth a guarantee of $10MM, but he’s disappointed thus far with a 6.28 ERA across his first 38 2/3 innings. In a related move, the club has recalled righty Deck McGuire from Triple-A Buffalo.
That’s not how Lehigh Valley is spelled, stylized, or even called in slang…
I live there, I wish it was the “high valley”
Ellsbury not playing is a good thing. Awful contract. Good riddance
He’s a league average player…? The fact that he’s overpaid doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be playing. But they have replacements so w.e
Exactly, he shouldnt be playing because players on the roster are better than him. Not because he’s overpaid. Whether he plays or not doesnt change how much you pay for him.
The Redsox were glad Ellsbury was overpaid by the NYY, good riddance n we hope the door didn’t hurt him on the way out of Boston. Nice to see Cashman still paying him for nuttin, kinda like the Redsox paying Panda.
If you’re new here, just know not all Red Sox fans are trolls. This one might be the worst offender — The 2nd coming of “big papi?”
oh do you mean bigpapi4life? Some days I miss him
He was probably the most infamous user here
A legend in his own right, I do miss those days.
Kind of like the door we wish would hit you in the A_s on your way out of the comments!
He was more preductive last year than Andujar is this year.
Miguel Andujar is scheduled to make $0.5458M minimum through 2020 and Ellsbury is making $21,142,857.15 annually through 2020 (Plus the $5M to buyout his 2021 club option)
Apples to oranges, my friend. Ellsbury serves as the poster child scapegoat for NYY current bad contract :((
Yeah andujar is only going to get better he’s 23 while ells will only get worse
“Double Deck McGuire”
Recalled from triple A Buffalo.
He has a minor back injury now? Where do all these injuries keep coming from? He’s not even on the field playing for the team. I wonder what his record is for how many days he’s gone without injury.
Maybe during physical rehab? Trying to workout around the already present injuries? Tbh i wouldnt be surprised if the Yankees are milking any injury they can out of him so they are not forced to have 5 or 6 OF on the MLB roster