The New York Yankees have been losing players to injury at an astounding rate. Starting pitcher Luis Gil and bullpen arm Chad Green suffered significant UCL injuries last week. They both require Tommy John surgery, but the bad luck has continued to pile on.
Just days later, the Yankees lost closer Aroldis Chapman to the 15-day IL with Achilles tendinitis. Star infielder DJ LeMahieu was scratched from the lineup with left wrist soreness several hours later. On Tuesday afternoon, slugger Giancarlo Stanton was pulled from the game with right calf tightness, presenting the Yankees with a severe problem.
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Yankees lose star slugger and a key bullpen arm:
Giancarlo Stanton:
The Yankees placed Stanton on the 10-day injured list with a calf injury. This season, Stanton is hitting .285 with 11 homers and 35 RBIs, contributing significantly to the Bombers’ success on offense. Without him, they are going to need magisterial contributions from their reserve options.
Stanton has faced this injury before with his right calf, keeping him out for weeks at a time. Suppose this injury lasts for longer than 10 days. In that case, the Yankees are in serious trouble, considering he features in the cleanup slot, and the only other player with his type of power is Aaron Judge, his firmly cemented in the No.2 slot.
Jonathan Loáisiga:
The Yankees bullpen took massive hits this past week. The latest to go down is Jonathan Loáisiga.
Loáisiga has been dealing with shoulder discomfort, undergoing a series of tests before being placed on the injured list. Luckily, manager Aaron Boone indicated that it’s probably not too severe, as he dealt with a similar injury last year.
“He’s gone through some tests in the last couple of days,” Boone said of Loaisiga. “Similar to what he dealt with last year, probably not as severe. Just feels like it’s probably something that as a precaution we need to be smart here and take a couple of weeks and hopefully that’s all it is.”
The 27-year-old relief arm has struggled to open the 2022 season, featuring a 7.02 ERA with a career-worst 59.6% left on base rate. His ground ball rate has dropped to 51.1% from 60.9% last year. Opposing hitters are posting a 35.6% hard-hit percentage on him, one of the worst numbers of his five-year career.
There’s no telling how significant the injury has impacted his performance, but the Yankees are taking a precautionary measure to make sure he’s healthy for the remainder of the campaign.