SEATTLE — Early Sunday night Aaron Boone was hopeful the clean X-rays of Didi Gregorius’ right shoulder were a sign the Yankees dodged another big injury blow.
“We will see. It’s a bone bruise but he is pretty sore,’’ Boone said. “We feel like it is a day-to-day thing, see how he is doing. Hopefully we avoided something serious.’’
Gregorius was drilled in his front shoulder by a Clayton Kershaw fastball that was clocked at 89 mph. He went to first base and played short for two innings before Mike Ford hit for him in the third inning of the Yankees’ 5-1 victory at Dodger Stadium where the Yankees copped two of three from the two-time defending National League champions.
Avoiding serious injury news hasn’t been the norm this season for the Yankees, who opened a three-game series against the AL West cellar-dwelling Mariners on Monday night at T-Mobile Park.
Not only is the number of players (28 for 35 stints) who have landed on the injured list alarming, it’s the names involved. It’s not outrageous to think a team of Yankees on the IL could be better than a lot of teams in the majors.
The entire starting outfield of Giancarlo Stanton (two trips), Aaron Hicks (two trips) and Aaron Judge has been on the shelf and Stanton has been limited to nine games this season. Fellow outfielders Brett Gardner and Cameron Maybin have done time on the IL, too.
First basemen Greg Bird, Edwin Encarnacion and Luke Voit have been on the shelf. Gregorius started the season on the IL due to last fall’s Tommy John surgery and has played in 59 games.
Third baseman Miguel Andujar played 12 games and went down for the season. All-star catcher Gary Sanchez has been on the IL twice. CC Sabathia as well. James Paxton has been shelved once. Dellin Betances and Luis Severino haven’t even pitched in a minor league rehab game this season.
Even though Gregorius’ shoulder issue might not be serious, he said it was sore Sunday and painful.
“It’s sore. Pain is pain, maybe a couple of days,’’ said Gregorius, who is eligible for free agency this offseason.
At the plate Gregorius is hitting .263 with 13 homers, 44 RBIs and an OPS of .772 in 59 games. Replacing his bat has proved less difficult than his skill in the field.
When Gregorius was working his way back from Tommy John surgery the Yankees used Troy Tulowitzki for a brief time before he went on the IL, too, and retired. They then shifted All-Star second baseman Gleyber Torres to short and he took over that spot again Sunday night.Torres played 15 games at short, his regular position coming through the Cubs’ minor league system, last season and had some trouble with footwork. This year his footwork has been better at short where he played 67 games going into Monday night’s action. Nine of Torres’ team-leading 15 errors were committed at short.
Torres will fill in for Gregorius and the Yankees have Tyler Wade to back up Torres.
The shoulder problem comes at a time when Gregorius was showing no signs the surgically repaired right elbow had robbed him of arm strength. In fact, infield coach Carlos Mendoza believes Gregorius’ arm is stronger than before the surgery.
“His throws have more carry, especially the plays he makes on the run to his right. Those used to tail toward the base runner,’’ Mendoza said Sunday before Gregorius was hit. “Now, obviously, with more strength there is more carry.’’