INJURY UPDATES & RUMORS ABOUT BIRDMAN FLY

John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

The second half is waiting.....and starts Friday. The Yankees have one more day of rest before the race for the postseason starts. The Yankees have been on a free fall since last month and are a banged up mash unit right now. They need to come back rested, healthy and ready to kick some arse and it sounds like some of our guys will be back soon.

Starlin Castro and Matt Holliday

Photo: New York Daily News

It feels like forever ago we lost Holliday. We haven't seen him since June 24th due to a viral illness but Holliday took batting practice on Friday before the game. He was feeling lethargic and weak but now says he has been feeling better everyday. Joe Girardi said he was set to start a minor league rehab assignment on Saturday with either Double-A Trenton or Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and should be ready to rejoin the team against the Boston series on Friday, read more HERE. It would be nice to have some more power at Fenway.

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Even better news, Castro is also expected back soon. Castro was also was expected to make one or two rehab appearances with either Double-A Trenton or Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before rejoining the team before the end of the Red Sox series. Castro has been running in the past week and has not reported any discomfort in his hamstring. Adding Castro back to the lineup would be huge for a struggling Yankee offense because they would finally get their second best hitter back in the lineup as they chase after the division leading Red Sox.

Aaron Hicks and Tyler Austin

News on Hicks and Austin are not as good. It sounds like injuries for both players may be more severe than expected.

Hicks was expected to miss three or four weeks with an oblique strain but now Hicks won't even resume baseball activities until July 25th after returning home from an extensive road trip. The Yankees miss his .398 on-base percentage which is ninth among all hitters so hopefully he comes back sooner rather than later.

Photo: New York Daily News

Austin on the other hand has already been out over two weeks but is further behind. The Yankees claim there is no setback but the hamstring strain is worse than they originally expected. He has not started any baseball activities yet and a rehab schedule has been put on hold.

Greg Bird

An interesting rumor came out yesterday....is the Bird man ready to start rehab games? He might be according to a story from NJ.com HERE and let the skepticism begin. I really hope this is true, but I am having a hard time believing it. I admit, I didn't go to medical school but last week NJ.com also broke a story that Bird felt "pain in everything I do" and couldn't even take batting practice. Brian Cashman confirmed Bird had seen a minimum or 6 or 7 doctor's before getting this last opinion and a cortisone shot, so what (if anything) did they find out? What has improved so much in a week?

I really want to see a healthy Bird back in the lineup but I can't help but be skeptical here. I want to think the last opinion and cortisone shot worked but we've seen this before. Bird goes on a rehab assignment and we get excited because time passes with no immediate bad news and then he quickly gets shut down again. Should the Yankees be more cautious here and hold off on this rehab assignment? Am I the only one who thinks this too good to be true or at least odd?

I really hope the next time Bird finally does go on a rehab assignment there are no setbacks. Until then we hold our breath, cross our fingers and pray for good news. Hey....at least we have two bats coming back very soon. I will take any good news I can get AND a good showing against the Red Sox this weekend!



--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Managing Editor 
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ