The most dangerous job in baseball right now may be in the Yankees outfield.
A day after Tim Locastro tore his ACL, Trey Amburgey left the Yankees win over the Red Sox with a hamstring issue. The team initially called it a cramp, but Aaron Boone said they were still trying to determine if it may be a slight strain.
“They’re kind of assessing whether it’s a low grade strain, whether it’s a cramp. I’m sure we’ll know a little more overnight and tomorrow,” an obviously frustrated Boone said.
The Yankees manager has had to use 13 outfielders this season because of injuries. Amburgey was just called up on Thursday in anticipation of Aaron Judge going on the COVID-19 injured list.
It was the second straight night the Bombers had an outfielder leave the game with an injury. Locastro left Saturday night’s game — after making a tremendous catch in left field — with a torn ACL and is out for the season. They almost had a third Sunday night when Ryan LaMarre, who was called up to replace Locastro, ran into the wall in right field (having shifted from left to cover Amburgey’s exit).
“After last time, coming up for four days and hurting my hamstring so early, I told Booney, ‘I’m not coming out of the game,'” LaMarre said. “You don’t get too many chances to wear pinstripes, so I want to take advantage of every inning I’m given out there.”
The Yankees have lost Judge (COVID-19), Aaron Hicks (wrist surgery), Clint Frazier (vision issues) and Miguel Andujar (wrist) from an outfield that came into this season considered overstocked. They were so comfortable with their depth they dealt excellent defensive outfielder Mike Tauchman to the Giants early in the year.
Now they’ve had to to use 37-year-old Brett Gardner, who was re-signed to be a fourth outfielder, almost every day in center field, they converted infielder Tyler Wade and they called up help from the minor leagues in Amburgey, LaMarre, Greg Allen and Hoy Park.
The Yankees are obviously looking at the trade market in the days before the deadline to enhance their outfield and have been linked to the Rangers’ Joey Gallo and Marlins’ Starling Marte.
For now, however, the Yankees are relying on a cast of role players to carry them through a critical stretch of their season.
Sunday night, in a must-win against the Red Sox, it paid off.
LaMarre, Allen and Gardner (who replaced Amburgey) gave the Yankees’ offense some life, combining to go 4-for-7 with three RBI, five runs and two stolen bases.
LaMarre hit a single, a two-run homer and stole a base. Allen went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly and a stolen base.
“There’s no doubt that they’ve come in and brought an energy and an excitement and obviously an enthusiasm,” Boone said. “So there’s no doubt that that’s brought a little bit of energy. But more importantly, they’ve gone out and played well and contributed to another winning series and that’s three in a row now against some really good opponents. So we just gotta keep that going. And keep finding ways to win ball games.”
The Yankees have relied on these older minor leaguers who have major league experience and have passed over Estevan Florial, a one-time top Yankees prospect. The 23-year-old is showing left-handed power at Triple-A and has speed and the ability to play center field, but has only been given a few quick chances to see how he does at the big league level.
Florial, whose career trajectory has been mitigated by injuries, is hitting .214/.314/.438 with 12 home runs, 68 strikeouts and 30 walks in 206 minor league at-bats this season.
When asked directly about the prospect being passed over, Boone indicated that the more experienced players gave the Yankees a better chance to win immediately.
“He’s doing well,” Boone said of Florial. “The biggest thing for him is (staying) healthy and getting those regular reps. He’s had some ups and downs certainly down there, but the biggest thing is he’s been able to play regularly. Hopefully he’s in store for a big second half.
“His development’s important. The guys that have gotten called up to this point have been in line and earned that spot.”
