Ronald Torreyes (Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports)

New York Yankees shortstop, Didi Gregorius, was sent home from the championship round of the 2017 World Baseball Classic with a shoulder strain. Gregorius had a preliminary MRI on Sunday and traveled back to Yankees camp for further tests. According to Yankee skipper, Joe Girardi, Didi has been diagnosed with a hematoma of the sub capsular muscle.

The Yankee shortstop figures to be out most of April after being shut down completely for two weeks.

Didi was having a huge WBC for the Dutch, hitting .348 with one homer and eight RBI. He was a major piece of the lineup and was definitely missed in the elimination of the Dutch on Monday against Puerto Rico.

He is also a major cog to the Yankee offense this season after last year’s breakout campaign. He figures to be a fixture in the middle of the Yankee lineup after hitting 20 bombs with a .276 average last season.

I hope Yankee fans don’t blame this injury on the WBC because Gregorius was the primary DH for the Netherlands in his short stint with the team. He would have been using his shoulder more if he was playing short for the Yanks back in Tampa. Shoulder sprains don’t appear over night, as it is a result of constant strain on his arm, meaning it would have gotten to this point eventually no matter where he was playing.

The only question that remains now is who will be the playing shortstop on Opening Day?

The Yankees are said to prefer an internal solution that doesn’t include phenom prospect Gleyber Torres, who has never played above High-A in the minors. I see three options from within the system that could possibly man the position for the first month of the season. The first two guys that can be grouped together in a long shot category are Pete Kozma and Ruben Tejada. Both have MLB experience, but aren’t sexy options as they don’t provide much offense at this point in their respective careers. They have also had underwhelming spring performances thus far.

The next two options are my “favorites” to land the position, this group includes Ronald Torreyes and Tyler Wade. Torreyes was last year’s utility man for the Bombers who thrives defensively and provides good contact, but not much pop. Tyler Wade is currently the Yankees No.12 prospect and has torn it up this spring going 13 for 33 with three doubles. Wade has been trying to add to his defensive repertoire this spring by logging time in both outfield corners. His ability to play multiple positions and his scorching hot camp enhance his chances of sticking at the Major League level for the time being. Wade is especially interesting because the Yankees can get an extended look at him and see what they have in the young shortstop.

This is not much of a risky scenario because Didi will be out for about a month, so even if Wade does not perform that well, at least he will gain experience at the big league level.