After injuring his calf on June 21st, New York Yankees outfield Cameron Maybin is fighting to make a return and continue contributing to his team.
Prior to the injury, Maybin was hitting a fantastic .314 with five homers and 14 RBIs. As one of the better base runners on the team, Maybin’s ability to score from first on a double or steal bases and get into scoring position was extremely beneficial.
The Yankees lack true speedsters, aside from Brett Gardner who will do whatever it takes to earn the “safe” call, including launching himself headfirst into the first-base bag. Despite the lack of true base runner connoisseurs, the Yankees are still sitting comfortably with a 64-33 record, the best in baseball at the present time.
The fact of the matter is, the Bombers don’t need to gain Maybin back and start him right away or start him at all. They will likely work him back slowly and utilize him as a rotation option to mitigate fatigue as the season progresses.
New York Yankees: Injury updates in Cameron Maybin
It was expected that Maybin would take quite a while to return to playing form, but it seems as if he’s making great progress and could be designated for a minor-league rehab assignment at some point next week. Assuming he has no setbacks, he will continue to add more baseball-related activities to his recovery program.
An interesting note:
Despite only five home runs on the year, Maybin acquires impressive power, as a batting practice session displayed about a month ago.
“Usually with batting practice, it is what it is,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “But we were all talking about it when we came in.”
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Maybin was banging baseballs off the billboard and deepest bleacher seats in the South of Chicago prior to a game against the White Sox. His launch angle was clearly tilted upwards giving him that extra power, but it was interesting to see his potential in that facet.
The Yankees have preferred power hitters in recent years, but they scatter contact hitters like Maybin and DJ LeMaheiu around the lineup to help create consistency. Before his injury, Maybin had hit three consecutive homers. It will be positive to gain him and his influence back.
I expect the Yanks to insert him in left field to rotate with Brett Gardner, optioning Mike Tauchman down to the minors once again.