After watching star infielder Gio Urshela leave the last game of the Astros series with some knee discomfort, the New York Yankees received some great news in the last few hours regarding the health of their prized third baseman.
Urshela, who presumably hurt his left knee while making a play on the field for the Yankees, underwent an MRI on Friday, and it showed no structural damage whatsoever. That qualifies as excellent news for a team that couldn’t afford to lose another infielder.
The MRI did show inflammation, though, so it’s possible Urshela isn’t back in the Yankees lineup right away. He is expected to avoid a trip to the injured list, so that’s a huge plus for a surging organization that need his offensive and defensive stability. In fact, there is a chance that Urshela us back out there on Saturday for the second game of the series against the Washington Nationals.
The Yankees could have Urshela back this weekend
“He checked out pretty well after the game, and then the MRI confirmed that everything is structurally sound,” Boone told MLB.com. “He’s got a little bit of swelling in there. Whether he’s back in there tomorrow or whatever, we’ll go day by day, but he’s doing a lot better.”
Just in case, the Yankees recalled fellow infielder and former Rookie of the Year runner-up Miguel Andujar from Triple-A, where he had been having an explosive performance at the plate.
Andujar, who hit 27 homers with a .297 average back in 2018, was 4-for-6 with a couple of home runs in the early going.
“He’s been over there before, and he’s worked there before,” the Yankees’ skipper said. “We had him work there pretty steadily last week just so he could get enough reps in case a situation like this presented itself. He’s been doing good over there.”