The New York Yankees are waiting on a number of players to return from injury. Obviously, the primary ones are Luis Severino, Carlos Rodon, and Harrison Bader. However, those three are still likely a few weeks away, with Bader the only one starting his rehab assignment this week.
However, the team is somewhat thinned out at a few positions, with Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list and veteran infielder Josh Donaldson working his way back from a hamstring injury. Donaldson, who started a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset on Tuesday, experienced a bit of tightness in the Hamstring, despite not playing at full speed.
Donaldson’s return could be delayed a few days, allowing him to ramp up properly and go through a full MiLB game without any pushback. While manager Aaron Boone didn’t call it a setback, any additional time he misses will suggest an aggravation to a degree.
“I don’t think it’s a setback. He didn’t pull it or have to come out of the game,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters after the Yankees’ loss to the Angels at Yankee Stadium. “But I don’t think it was all the way where it needs to be.”
The Yankees have the talent to supplement Donaldson’s loss:
Luckily for the Bombers, Donaldson isn’t an impact player at this point in his career. The 37-year-old third baseman was hitting just .125 with a .176 OBP across five games to start the year. His absence doesn’t necessarily negatively affect the team since they pushed DJ LeMahieu over to the hot corner, and Oswald Peraza was called up and featured at second base during Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.
The expectation is that Donaldson could miss a few more days, which would put Peraza back in the driver’s seat for more starting opportunities. Unfortunately, he could not get anything going, with his first MLB at-bat this season coming with the bases loaded in a high-leverage situation.
Given the state of the team, the Yankees are fighting off injuries on multiple fronts, and there’s no guarantee they will get everyone back simultaneously down the road. However, with the amount of talent on the injured list, they could field an above-average squad.