The new improved Yankees may be younger, but their bodies are breaking just like the old model.
The result has blown giant potholes in the path of a $3.7 billion juggernaut careening toward a cheaper business model that relies on untested farmhands and valued prospects over veterans for the first time.
For many hardcore fans, though, who have long awaited this historic transition with relish, it's simply made an anticipated wild ride even more unpredictable and, curiously, somehow more exciting as still more farmhands and unfamiliar faces get pressed into service to shore up the breach, adding to the drama of the moment and keeping in the spirit of the adventurous enterprise.
Meanwhile, however, the body count grows, with consequences varying from minor and short-term to critical and career-threatening. Here's the latest updates on our banged up bombers:
-- James Kaprielian: A lost season for Kap. We reported on this late last night in SURGERY FOR THE KID. Brian Cashman announced team doctors and a surgeon who specializes in pitching injuries consulted by Kaprielian have given him his available options on fixing his bum elbow. Bottom line , it came down to Tommy John Surgery.
-- Greg Bird: Birdman has a lingering sore ankle from a spring training foul tip and a brief bout of either flu or food poisoning (after seeing what flu's done to Boston, I'm rooting for food poisoning) he was feeling well enough to play in Wednesday's victory the Rays. But Joe Girardi kept him benched to give his tender tootsie an added day to recuperate and give ersatz first baseman Chris Carter a last crack at breaking the Mendoza line against Rays lefty Blake Snell before heading back to the bench himself. (He didn't.) Bird was back in the line up last night.
--Brett Gardner: Gardy passed all concussion tests following his bone-crunching base running collision Wednesday with Rays first baseman Rickie Weeks Jr., but he was scratched from Thursday's game and is day-to-day with a bruised jaw and strained neck and he'll be re-evaluated for concussion symptoms.
He also declined to rule out a trip to the disabled list for the longest tenured Yankee.
--Didi Gregorius: Didi is rehabbing his right throwing shoulder he injured playing second base. Yup, second base... that still pisses me off.
He played there for Team Netherlands and began a rehab program over a week ago at the team's minor league complex in Tampa that started with long-tossing from 60 to 90 feet, quickly progressed to include one-handed bat-swinging and has since evolved to fielding ground balls and taking full dry swings with the bat, according to Joe.
So he's right on track in his rehab schedule and, barring any setbacks, could back in the Bronx where he belonged all along by the first week in May.
--Gary Sanchez: Sanchez is in his 5th day of a 10-day scheduled no-baseball activity period and receiving daily treatments at the Yankees' minor league facility for his strained brachialis muscle located behind behind his right biceps. After that, he'll follow a program of progressive rehabilitation like Didi.
The team's four-week rehab plan and Gary's personal reports his range of motion and discomfort both have dramatically improved suggest that, barring setbacks, a presumptive return to the Bronx the first week in May along with Didi is a distinct possibility.
That's the update on the walking dead folks. Slowly but surely we will see these guys return fully healthy. Right now though, it's crazy in the Bronx.
--Barry Millman
BYB Writer
Twitter: @nyyankeefanfore
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| Photo: New York Daily News |
He also declined to rule out a trip to the disabled list for the longest tenured Yankee.
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| Photo: MLB.com |
He played there for Team Netherlands and began a rehab program over a week ago at the team's minor league complex in Tampa that started with long-tossing from 60 to 90 feet, quickly progressed to include one-handed bat-swinging and has since evolved to fielding ground balls and taking full dry swings with the bat, according to Joe.
So he's right on track in his rehab schedule and, barring any setbacks, could back in the Bronx where he belonged all along by the first week in May.
--Gary Sanchez: Sanchez is in his 5th day of a 10-day scheduled no-baseball activity period and receiving daily treatments at the Yankees' minor league facility for his strained brachialis muscle located behind behind his right biceps. After that, he'll follow a program of progressive rehabilitation like Didi.
The team's four-week rehab plan and Gary's personal reports his range of motion and discomfort both have dramatically improved suggest that, barring setbacks, a presumptive return to the Bronx the first week in May along with Didi is a distinct possibility.
That's the update on the walking dead folks. Slowly but surely we will see these guys return fully healthy. Right now though, it's crazy in the Bronx.
--Barry Millman
BYB Writer
Twitter: @nyyankeefanfore
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