DJ LeMahieu and Gio Urshela become latest injury victims

Despite the Yankees winning nine out of their last ten games, the injuries never seem to end lately. During Sunday’s game against the San Francisco Giants, second baseman DJ LeMahieu was removed from the game in the third inning due to pain resulting from fouling a ball off his knee in Friday’s game. LeMahieu was not the only Yankee to leave Sunday’s game for injury purposes, as third baseman Gio Urshela was hit by a pitch on his left hand by Giants pitcher Nick Vincent. Urshela was in a lot of pain after the pitch as he walked to first base but left the game immediately after that.

Fortunately both LeMahieu and Urshela’s X-rays came back negative, which is a positive sign that they will not have to go on the injured list. LeMahieu was diagnosed with right knee inflammation and will be day-to-day. Urshela was also listed as day-to day and even if both of them do not play for a couple games, as long as they do not have to join most of their teammates on the IL, then the Yankees will live with it.

Regardless of what the outcome is for LeMahieu and Urshela, the injuries have not stopped for this team. They currently have 13 players on the IL and most of their players on the IL are stars. Through this these Yankees are defying the odds by continuing to win even with the major absences. It is nice to be able to count on guys like Luke Voit, Domingo German, Urshela, and LeMahieu to carry the team while the star players are recovering from injuries. Those four, along with Gary Sanchez and James Paxton, have picked up the slack and played very well, which is a promising sign of how the team will do when everyone returns from injuries.

There is light at the end of the tunnel for the Yankees, though, as some of the players on the IL are slated to come back soon. Miguel Andujar and Troy Tulowitzki are slated to return by this weekend, according to Pete Caldera of the Bergen Record. Clint Frazier is not far behind, either, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com who said that Frazier will be close to a return if he is able to run on the field without any issues.

It is a difficult task, but the Yankees are faring well through this period, and we shall see how it plays out once more players come back from injury.