Jacoby Ellsbury is battling a back injury and isn’t doing any baseball activities, general manager Brian Cashman said.
Add that to issues with his hip and oblique — as well as plantar fasciitis — and there’s no telling when Ellsbury will be back.
“Everything that he’s got has been diagnosed legitimately by a doctor,’’ Cashman said before the Yankees’ 11-4 loss to the Angels Saturday night at the Stadium. “It’s frustrating, without question. But it’s also, upon diagnosis, a future expectation of return to play. He just keeps kicking the can down the road because he’s had a series of different circumstances that stalled his rehab. … That’s something we haven’t experienced, where we’ve had four or five different separate distinct injuries while he’s on rehab.”
For now, the Yankees are fine without Ellsbury, with four healthy outfielders in Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, Brett Gardner and Giancarlo Stanton. In addition, Clint Frazier is available at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after a brief stint with the Yankees when they played the Nationals in an NL park.
“When we started losing outfielder after outfielder [in April], we were desperate for him,’’ Cashman said. “Now, I’ve gotten mentally prepared for it not being anytime soon. But I’m not prepared for him not to be here at some point. I expect that to happen at some point.’’
And Cashman said Ellsbury — who is making $21 million this season and will be owed at least $47 million more through 2021-still has value to the Yankees.
“It would be nice to have a healthy Jacoby Ellsbury push himself back into our world because he’d be a nice asset to deploy and utilize,’’ Cashman said.
Jordan Montgomery (left elbow strain) played catch for a second straight day Saturday, three weeks after being shut down.
He said he’s on track to return as scheduled, which would put him three or four weeks away.
Adam Warren (back) began a rehab stint Saturday with SWB and gave up four runs in just two-thirds of an inning.
Manager Aaron Boone didn’t seem overly concerned about Aroldis Chapman having his left knee wrapped after Friday’s game, saying it was likely maintenance, which is what the closer said. … Since going 4-for-4 with a homer to close the Yankees’ last homestand, Stanton is hitless in the first two games of this series.