Yankees’ Harrison Bader Placed on 10-Day IL With Right Hamstring Strain
Injuries have played a huge factor for the New York Yankees this season, and did so again on Tuesday, as righty Harrison Bader landed on the injured list.
Bader is the latest Yankee to be bitten by the injury bug, which saw him exit after running out an infield single in the third inning of Monday’s series opener versus the Seattle Mariners, injuring his right hamstring on the play.
The 28-year-old centre-fielder was sent for an MRI the next day, revealing a low-grade strain. As a result, the Yankees had no choice but to make a roster move, placing the speedy outfielder on the 10-day IL ahead of Tuesday’s contest against the Mariners.
New York made a few additional moves, as well, activating catcher Jose Trevino from the IL and recalling outfielder Franchy Cordero from triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. They also optioned fellow backstop Ben Rortvedt to triple-A, leaving 26 players on their active roster.
This is Bader’s second IL stint of the season after an oblique strain forced him to miss New York’s first 30 games. The Yankees don’t expect him to be sidelined for nearly as long this time, though.
The former third-round selection won’t be rushed back, especially considering he leans heavily on his quickness in centre field and on the bases. But he could be looking at a similar timeline to Trevino, who missed just 11 games due to a hamstring strain.
“It’ll probably be a couple of weeks, but we’ll see,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said post-game. “A guy like him really relies on the legs. It wasn’t bad, but enough to know these 10 days will be needed.”
“I don’t think it’ll be a real long thing for Harrison.”
Despite being shut down in spring training, Bader returned from injury with a vengeance earlier this month, hitting .267/.295/.511 with six home runs, 19 RBIs and a 118 wRC+ in 26 games. He also swiped six bases in eight attempts.
The 2021 Gold Glove Award winner also made a significant impact in centre field, recording +4 Defensive Runs Saved and +5 Outs Above Average across 205.1 innings.
Without Bader, the Yankees will feature a combination of Aaron Judge, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Greg Allen in centre, utilizing a matchup-based approach. Still, filling the vacancy left by an elite defender won’t come easy.
“Just mix and match,” Boone said. “Depending on who we’re facing, what’s available to us, who’s pitching for us, we’ll just kind of piece it together.”
Allen received the start in centre field on Tuesday. Fittingly, however, there was some miscommunication between him and Judge on Cal Raleigh’s fly ball in the sixth inning, which allowed it to fall for a double. But luckily, he was ultimately stranded at third base.
Bader, acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals last season in exchange for left-hander Jordan Montgomery, will be sorely missed by the Yankees on numerous fronts. But perhaps he’ll be able to pick up where he left off if he doesn’t miss too much time.
The Bronxville, New York, native is slated to become a free agent this off-season.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: dronepicr. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.