DETROIT- By the time the Yankees had knocked off the Tigers, 10-4, in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader, two key players were already on their way back to New York with injuries.
And while Aaron Boone said he believed that neither Edwin Encarnacion’s strained left oblique or J.A. Happ’s biceps tendinitis was serious, they’re two more concerns the already beaten up Yankees are now dealing with.
Encarnacion was pulled after his third at-bat with discomfort in his oblique that he initially felt in his first at-bat. The DH went on to hit a two-run homer and Boone said Encarnacion didn’t feel it when he swings.
Aaron Judge was lost for nearly two months with a strained oblique, but Boone pointed out that Judge was clearly hurt when he injured his oblique and that was not the case with Encarnacion.
“My understanding is he was fine swinging,’’ the manager said. “We hope it’s minor and we got ahead of it, but we won’t know until we get it checked out.”
Happ will also be examined by team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad, although Boone and Happ said the visit was already planned and the left-hander had actually been pitching with discomfort in the area for his last several starts.“It’s progressing getting to a point where we decided to go get it checked out and go from there,’’ Happ said on a conference call after allowing two runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Boone insisted he wasn’t removed because of an injury and instead pointed to the 99 pitches Happ threw.
Still, it seems a stunning decision to let a pitcher keep making starts with an arm injury, but Happ noted he pitched with a similar injury in 2016.
And he’s actually pitched well over his past three appearances, with a 20-inning scoreless streak snapped by Dawel Lugo’s two-out homer in the fifth on Thursday.
“It’s something I wanted to do,’’ Happ said of pitching through the tendinitis. “We all talked through it. I voiced my opinion. The fact I can get some results helps. … I think I’m gonna be fine and I can adjust to whatever way I’m feeling.”
Happ didn’t rule out the possibility of a cortisone shot at some point.
“It’s something I’ve had in the past,’’ Happ said of the tendinitis, which is located near his shoulder. “I feel like I can manage it. I have been able to manage it.”
Despite the additional shaky health news, Boone said he isn’t concerned his team’s attitude will be affected.
“We’ve got too much at stake right now and too great of a team to start – at any time – feeling sorry for ourselves,’’ the manager said. “Everyone in that room is capable of doing special things. That doesn’t change. Frankly, I expect Edwin to be a part of that moving forward, too.”
Clearly, they’re also optimistic about Happ, but the never-ending additional injuries may eventually catch up to them.