A-Rod to the DL

A-Rod is headed to the DL with his quad strain. He’ll be out for at least 2 weeks (and the hits keep coming, huh?). PA also reports (in that same link) that Brian Cashman will have internal discussions regarding Phil Hughes about whether or not he’ll make his next start.

Things are snowballing in Yankeeland.

Game 1: Yanks VS. Tigers

PA provides the lineup:

Damon CF
Jeter SS
Abreu RF
Matsui LF
Giambi DH
Duncan 1B
Ensberg 3B
Cano 2B
Stewart C
Hughes RHP

Even without A-Rod or Jorge, that’s a good lineup. Chris Britton has been optioned back to AAA and Edwar Ramirez has been recalled.

Also, the AP has an update on Harlan Chamberlain, who has been discharged from the hospital and is feeling a lot better (great news).

UPDATE (7:15) — 10 minutes into the game and Hughes has already given up 2 runs. Well, I guess that’s what happens when you walk the leadoff hitter. You can blame Damon on Polanco’s run but come on, everyone knows he doesn’t have a good arm. By by having him at CF you’re just asking for people to run.

Getting Healthy

A-Rod speaks on his quad problem:

“I had a quad injury like this my senior year in high school, and it lingered on for a couple of months,” Rodriguez said. “It’s important to get it right. I think (Derek) Jeter took the right approach where he took a little bit more time. That’s probably what I need, too.”

Don’t let A-Rod scare you here. He’s not a high school kid anymore and he plays for the NY Yankees (who have specialists in abundance), so I wouldn’t expect him to be out for an entire month. He’ll likely be out for the week, which is certainly necessary. However, in my mind (as a fan), it would have been cool to see him play against Detroit. Miguel Cabrera, who now plays first base for the Tigers, was rumored to be A-Rod’s successor if A-Rod failed to resign with the Yanks during the offseason.

Posada’s Injury Not Season Threatening

From Ed Price (Star Ledger):

Posada was examined yesterday by specialist James Andrews, and a person briefed on the exam who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak before the team discussed the matter today, said the early indications are that the damage in Posada’s shoulder is not season-threatening, but cautioned that the complete diagnosis wouldn’t be known for a few more days.

This seems to connect to Jeter’s statement about Jorge being back in a few weeks. Let’s hope this is all true. ESPN also has an AP report up that seems to further this notion.

14-13

All things considered, whether the Yankees were plagued by injures (A-Rod, Jorge, Bruney, Jeter, Giambi) or horrific slumps (Giambi, Cano, Damon), the team has more than survived its grueling road trip, going 14-13, as our boys are finally headed home. The past few weeks have been riddled with a myriad of miserable moments, however, somehow, the team still finds itself 1 game out of first place.

Again, all things considered, that seems pretty good.

The team is obviously very happy that the road trip is over and, hopefully, by stabilizing their location for a bit, the Yankees will be able to rest up and maybe being back in NY will help Robinson Cano, as he experiences what can only be described as a particularly dreadful funk.

Right now, while the Yankees are headed back to NY, Jorge Posada has been traveling the country in search of answers. His shoulder has become a huge situation for the Yankees and he was seen by Dr. James Andrews yesterday. George King III that the Yankees probably won’t provide any info. on Jorge until their team doctor, Dr. Stuart Hershon, sees Posada’s new MRI results (taken yesterday). Jorge may also visit the Reds to see Tim Kremcheck, the team’s doctor and a renound shoulder expert.

The King article (mentioned above) is also interesting because of the following passage:

Though the club was mum about what Andrews found, if you read between the lines of what people who know Posada well are saying, rest - and not surgery - might be the remedy. Two weeks ago there was talk that Posada was suffering from a tear in the labrum area and that he received a cortisone shot from a Red Sox team doctor. He denied both.

“He will be all right, he will be back in a couple of weeks,” said Derek Jeter, Posada’s closest friend in the clubhouse, who spoke briefly to the catcher. “I am not a doctor, but he will be fine.”

Joe Girardi indicated surgery wasn’t necessary because he believes it’s a strain, not a tear.

“If it’s a strain then surgery is not an option,” he said. “We will probably rest him a little bit longer.”

There are all these conflicting reports about Jorge having a subscapularis muscle tear (not labrum) and there are people like Joe Girardi who totally counter that notion. This article continues to blurs our understanding of the situation, but at least Jeter said what he said. I mean, you would think that he would have some sort of insider knowledge regarding the situation (Jorge could have texted him).

In the end, the Yankees will have to wait and be patient. That’s the name of the game this year–patience. They’ll wait on the kids to become productive pitchers and they’ll wait on the veterans to heal. Back with more, tomorrow.

Argh, A-Rod Reinjures Quad

Bryan Hoch is reporting that Alex Rodriguez reaggrivated his quad injury in today’s contest. Honestly, at this point, the Yankees are still playing decent baseball even with these injuries. Right now, Girardi needs to sit A-Rod for a few days and limit his activity. Learn from the Posada situation, please.