New York a Yankee town

IN WHAT comes as a surprise to absolutely no one, Jacoby Ellsbury has suffered another injury — and this time it’s his hip that’s bothering him.

So much for Ellsbury coming back on Thursday and providing an able body for the shorthanded Yankees. Remember when he was hopeful to win back the starting job in center out of camp? Ah, those were the days.

The 34-year-old veteran, who is due $68 million over the next three seasons (with a no-trade clause), has been shut down from his rehab stint for a couple days, according to Aaron Boone.

“He just felt something in his hip and it’s going to cost him a couple days,” Boone said. “It’s different from what he was dealing with before, so hopefully it’s something small and not a big deal and not a huge setback, but he’s been shut down for a couple days.”

Ellsbury has been coming back from an oblique injury that

NEW York City is a Yankees town, even in Queens. A new Quinnipiac poll released on Monday showed that New Yorkers preferred the Yankees over the Mets, 54% to 34%, and hold the edge over their cross-town rivals in all five boroughs, including the Mets’ own backyard in Queens where the Bombers were preferred by 45% of fans polled, compared to just 40% for Mets fans.

The Yankees dominated the other boroughs, taking Manhattan 47% to 36%, Staten Island 61% to 36% and Brooklyn 52% to 35%. While Yankees fans may hold a strong footing in Queens, there are almost no Mets fans in the Bronx, where the Yankees were overwhelming favorites by a 73% to 16% margin. Three percent of fans polled were also Red Sox fans. It is quite a different story from two years ago, when a caused him to miss nearly all of spring training. He had been participating in minor-league rehab games, and was eligible to come off the disabled list on Thursday. But that optimistic timetable has obviously been scrapped.

In fact, Boone said that starter Aaron Hicks, who is on the DL recovering from a Grade I strain of his intercostal muscle, is now ahead of Ellsbury in terms of a potential return. Hicks was slated to hit on Tuesday.

“He continues to feel good,” Boone said of Hicks. “So we’re optimistic that it’s going to be on the short of end of things, so that’s good news. But we’ve got to see how he does today and then we’ll progress from there.”

In an encouraging development for the decimated club, Clint Frazier (concussion) has been increasing his baseball activity — running the bases and tracking high velocity pitches — and is “hopefully very close” to getting into minor-league rehab games, according to Boone.

While Ellsbury didn’t pay himself seven years, $153 million in Quinnipiac poll found that 45% of New Yorkers preferred the Mets, who were coming off a World Series trip in 2015. Quinnipiac surveyed 1,230 New York adults between March 22-27 with a margin of error of +/-3.6 percentage points.

INTROS GET AX

This was not your average Opening Day.

The Yankees decided to skip the player introductions on Tuesday as the inclement weather threw a wrench into the usual Opening Day traditions.

Second baseman Tyler Wade did not seem to mind, and said his first Yankees home opener was still memorable. “We didn’t have our traditional introductions and everything but my family was here so it was great,” Wade said. “A lot of fans here today so that was fun ... the roll call with the fans made it special so it was fun, for sure.” ... Aaron Boone became the sixth 2014, he’s underachieved on the field relative to his contract, posting an OPS of .716 his first four years as a Yankee, and hasn’t stayed healthy. Granted, he did suffer that concussion last season while making a terrific catch against the wall.

The Bombers tried to trade Ellsbury, who didn’t start once in center in the playoffs, this offseason to no avail — even despite a willingness to pick up some of his remaining money owed. Here’s what a scout told me recently about Ellsbury: “I don’t think he attacks the game enough. And I think that’s why teams were apprehensive about acquiring him — aside from the contract — is they were wondering if his heart is still in it. I think they hope he plays well enough to where they can move him. He’ll be a factor at some point, but I don’t see him being much of a factor for them overall.”

Jacoby Ellsbury can’t be a factor when he’s not on the field. And when the Yankees actually have a need for him given their lack of outfield depth, he’s hurt again. straight Yankees manager to win his home debut with the Bombers’ 11-4 win over the Rays on Tuesday. “The goal is to shake hands at the end of the day,” he said. “And there’s nothing sweeter, certainly as a player and definitely as a manager, to get it done.”

WARREN REPORT

Adam Warren sounded pretty optimistic about his status since being hit in the right leg with a line drive in Toronto on Saturday. The reliever said he could not put any weight on it originally, but was able to throw on Sunday and is feeling a lot better. “If it was up to me I’d play today," he said . ... It’s far from a splash, but the Yankees did pick up Klay Thompson’s brother, Trayce Thompson, off waivers from the Dodgers on Tuesday. Trayce, a 27-year-old outfielder, who has also played for the White Sox, has a career .754 OPS in parts of three seasons, though he hit just .122 for L.A. last year in 27 games . ... The Yankees transferred righty reliever Ben Heller (right elbow bone spur) to the 60-day DL.