MLB notes: Yankees manager Aaron Boone takes leave to get pacemaker.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone took a leave of absence from the team to get a pacemaker and intends to return to work in a few days.
The Yankees said the procedure was performed Wednesday at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa, Fla., and went as expected. Boone remained hospitalized overnight.
“It sounds like it’s going to be a shortterm thing,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “I do applaud him for being very open and honest.”
Bench coach Carlos Mendoza served as manager for Wednesday night’s exhibition game against Toronto in Tampa.
Boone, 47, said in a statement the medical team is “confident that today’s surgery will allow me to resume all of my usual professional and personal activities and afford me a positive longterm health prognosis without having to change anything about my way of life. I look forward to getting back to work in the next several days.”
Spring highlights: Corey Kluber retired six straight batters, striking out three, in his first multiinning appearance since his second spring training outing last year on March 6 as the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 41. While with Cleveland, Kluber broke his right forearm May 1, 2019, when hit by a comebacker off the bat of Miami’s Brian Anderson. He returned for his Texas debut July 26 of last year but tore a muscle in his right shoulder, ending his season after one inning . ... Two hitters new to the Nationals, Kyle Schwarber and Josh Bell, hit solo shots in an 85 loss to the Marlins . ... Tampa Bay shortstop Wander Franco got his first hit of spring training with a solo homer in a 31 win over the Pirates . ... Bobby Dalbec hit his second and third homers, driving in three runs in Boston’s 145 win over the Twins. J.D. Martinez had two hits for a second straight game . ... Top catching prospect Adley Rutschman had an RBI double in four atbats as the Orioles beat Atlanta 81 . ... Christian Walker a tworun homer for Arizona in a 94 win over Cleveland. Luke Weaver allowed two hits in two shutout innings . ... Brad Miller had an RBI single and Cal alum Andrew Knapp followed with a tworun double in Philadelphia’s fourrun fourth inning of a 42 win over the Tigers . ... Shohei Ohtani hit his first home run of spring for the Angels, a tworun shot, in a 62 win over the Rangers. Mike Trout went 0for2 and stranded three runners . ... Newcomer Joc Pedersen hit his first home run for the Cubs — a tworun shot in the first inning of an 88 tie with the Mariners. Jarred Kelenic, Seattle’s top prospect, hit a tworun homer.
Briefly: Two former A’s players signed minorleague deals, infielder Eric Sogard (Cubs) and lefthander Gio Gonzalez (Marlins) . ... Houston lefthander Framber Valdez has a fractured left ring finger, an injury that could deal another blow to the team’s bangedup rotation . ... Washington lefthander Jon Lester, 37, is leaving spring training camp to have surgery for the removal of his thyroid gland. “Hopefully, he can pitch again in about a week,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said . ... Arizona outfielder Tim Locastro has tested positive for the coronavirus. Manager Torey Lovullo said Locastro tested positive Tuesday night and would be out for 10 days unless there had been a false positive. Lovullo added that Locastro had no symptoms.