Warren latest to land on the DL
Another day another addition to the Yankees’ disabled list.
One day after providing 2 2/3 innings of relief, righthander Adam Warren landed on the 10-day disabled list on Saturday with a strained strained right latissimus dorsi muscle in his back.
Warren said he felt it during a game at Yankee Stadium on April 8 against the Orioles.
“I felt it the last game of the first homestand,’’ said Warren, who worked an inning and was the loser in that 8-7, 12-inning defeat to the Orioles. “It was more it was getting tight after games. [Friday night] I felt it on some pitches.’’
Jonathan Holder was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Warren’s spot in a bullpen that had worked 17 ¹/3 innings in the previous four games.
Holder, who closed out Saturday’s 9-1 win over the Blue Jays with two perfect innings that included a pair of strikeouts, opened the season in the big leagues, but was sent to Triple-A on April 7 after three poor outings.
Gary Sanchez is more interested in hitting than catching, according to former Yankees hitting coach Alan Cockrell, who wasn’t retained after last season, his second with the club.
“Gary is just not a real high-energy guy, and the catching position is basically the heartbeat of the baseball field and you want an energetic guy,’’ Cockrell said on a Nashville, Tenn., radio station. “Gary is more concerned about what he is going to do at the plate and his energy lacks a little bit.”
After hinting on Friday night he might start Sanchez on Saturday, which would have meant working a night game followed by a day tilt, manager Aaron Boone went with Austin Romine behind the plate.
Boone said it had nothing to do with Sanchez taking a foul tip off his groin during the eighth inning Friday night, but more to do with that 8-5 loss lasting 3:22.
Romine went 0-for-2 with two walks Saturday.
Greg Bird and Brandon Drury hope their injuries won’t keep them on the DL much longer.
Drury, who has been on the DL for two weeks, went through pregame drills again on Saturday and said though his vision is still blurred, the problem is subsiding.
“We’re starting to get some answers about what was causing it,’’ Drury said. “Headaches I can play through. It’s the blurred vision that’s a problem.”
Drury said tests showed “some issues with my neck and head. Some stuff was not working right that was causing pressure and blocking my vision.”
There’s still no time frame for when Drury will return to game action.
Boone said it’s “possible” Drury could start playing in games this coming week.
Bird said he expects to increase his running and activity in the batter’s box this week as he recovers from last month’s right-ankle surgery. The first baseman thinks he will hit in the cage Monday and run more later in the week.
If he continues to progress without setbacks, Bird said he believes he will be back in the Yankees lineup “sometime in May,” which fits into the 6-8 week recovery time that was predicted.
Ronald Torreyes started at second base on Saturday and went 1-for-4. It was the utility infielder’s fifth start in six games. In those five starts he is hitting .455 (10-for-22). … Aaron Judge’s home run in the third inning Saturday was on a 3-0 count. It was Judge’s first career home run swinging at a 3-0 pitch. He was 1-for-3 with an RBI on 3-0 pitches.