Currently dealing with a flexor strain in his left (throwing) arm, New York Yankees‘ starter James Paxton knows that he is nursing a multi-week injury, but at the same time, he is confident that he will be back in time to make an impact just before the playoffs start.
The Yankees decided to shut down their lefty starter for two weeks. The club is not playing, after the Subway series against the Mets was postponed due to a COVID-19 bout in the Queens’ club.
The New York Yankees are still discussing who will replace Paxton in the rotation for the time he spends on the injured list. Options include Clarke Schmidt, Jonathan Loaisiga, Nick Nelson, Mike King, or making a trade.
Paxton was diagnosed with the strained left flexor tendon after an MRI on Thursday. He hasn’t had a particularly good season for the Yankees, with a 1-1 record and an uncharacteristic 6.64 ERA in five starts.
The Yankees are weighing their options
“At first when it happened, I was thinking, ‘This can’t be happening,’†Paxton said to MLB.com. “It just continued to get tighter and tighter. Considering the circumstances, I got very lucky with the injury. I was glad that it wasn’t anything with the [ulnar collateral ligament]. It’s perfectly healthy, so that’s great news. It should be a short-term thing.â€
“We’ll just kind of figure it out,†Boone said regarding Paxton’s replacement. “We won’t have to make that decision yet, but obviously guys like King, Nelson and Lo are stretched out. We have a lot of people that can give us innings.â€
The Yankees’ skipper praised Schmidt and said he is also being considered for a callup. “He’s doing really well and continues to get good reports,†Boone said. “It’s been a very good work year for him. As we’ve had some attrition, he certainly very much is one of the guys we’ve talked about a lot and [he’s] in the conversation.â€