Yankees famous person Aaron Decide underwent testing earlier in the present day attributable to what the Yankees termed an “elbow difficulty,” and supervisor Aaron Boone relayed the outcomes of that testing to reporters this afternoon. As relayed by a number of reporters together with Joel Sherman of the New York Submit, Boone revealed this afternoon that Decide is affected by a flexor pressure. He’ll have to be positioned on the injured checklist and will likely be restricted to DH-only duties for a time upon his return, however Boone added that there isn’t any tear in Decide’s UCL and described the prognosis as “excellent news.”
ESPN’s Jorge Castillo was amongst these to relay that Boone steered it’s “potential” that Decide could possibly be again within the lineup as a DH after a minimal ten-day stint on the shelf, at which level he may start a throwing program with an eye fixed in the direction of returning to the outfield in a while. Castillo provides that Boone famous he’s already spoken to incumbent DH Giancarlo Stanton about getting some outfield reps whereas Decide occupies the DH slot upon his return. Jon Heyman of the New York Submit added that the best state of affairs for the Yankees is that Decide misses ten days on the IL, then serves because the membership’s DH for ten extra days earlier than returning the outfield in simply 20 days whole. It’s an aggressive timeline that might put Decide again in proper subject regularly in the midst of August.
Flexor strains are sometimes a precursor to UCL injury however can sometimes be resolved with relaxation, with the precise quantity of relaxation needed depending on the severity of the pressure. With such an aggressive timeline being mentioned at this level, it appears doubtless that Decide is coping with a comparatively minor pressure. With that being mentioned, the Yankees’ prime precedence is definitely to keep away from injury to Decide’s UCL that might require surgical procedure. It might be a shock if the membership was prepared to hurry their generational expertise again to the sphere earlier than they have been fully sure that he received’t trigger additional injury to his elbow by persevering with to play.
Whether or not Decide will finally return to the roster after only a minimal stint and be again within the outfield shortly thereafter or he’ll require an extended absence, the truth that Decide shouldn’t require surgical procedure is definitely trigger for aid among the many Yankees trustworthy. Even so, any time missed by the reigning AL MVP will likely be a tricky blow given his singular significance to the staff’s lineup. At all times a prolific hitter, Decide has unlocked one other gear to his sport because the begin of the 2022 season when he crushed an AL-record 62 homers and received his first MVP award. He was restricted to only 106 video games by damage in 2023 however delivered one other MVP efficiency final yr that was kind of equivalent to his 2022 marketing campaign. This yr has been extra of the identical to this point, as he’s slashed an unbelievable .342/.449/.711 whereas main the majors in batting common, on-base share, slugging share, hits, and whole bases in addition to each bWAR and fWAR.
Dropping that caliber of hitter would damage for any lineup, but it surely’s particularly damaging for a Yankees place participant corps that has gotten up-and-down performances from different key hitters like Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Ben Rice. Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Jasson Dominguez ought to be capable to deal with issues within the outfield whereas Decide is out of fee, but it surely’s plain that Dominguez’s league common bat is a big step down from the elite offense Decide has supplied. Whereas nobody can fairly anticipated to switch an MVP candidate, it’s potential that reinforcements from the minors (and even one other membership forward of the commerce deadline) may assist to melt the blow over the approaching days.
High outfield prospect Spencer Jones has been rating in his first style of Triple-A motion this yr and may appear to be a logical alternative to switch Decide on the roster, however Jack Curry of the YES Community writes that Jones missed final night time’s sport for the RailRiders due to again spasms. That would go away fellow Triple-A outfielders Everson Pereira and Bryan De La Cruz because the most probably choices to step up in Decide’s place, notably provided that each are already on the membership’s 40-man roster. It wasn’t too way back that Pereira was within the top-100 prospect dialog, and whereas accidents have sidelined him lately he’s posted a powerful .256/.353/.516 line in 300 Triple-A plate appearances this yr. De La Cruz has much less spectacular numbers, however does boast an extended observe document within the massive leagues.
With Decide anticipated to return this season and doubtlessly achieve this with out even spending very lengthy on the injured checklist, it’s unlikely that his damage will trigger the Yankees to tug again from their plan of shopping for within the coming days as they give the impression of being to catch the Blue Jays within the AL East. It’s not out of the query, nevertheless, that the membership may have extra curiosity in including additional additions to the offense within the wake of in the present day’s information even after buying and selling for third baseman Ryan McMahon yesterday. Speculatively talking, a flexible hitter able to serving to out everywhere in the diamond like Twins utility man Willi Castro or versatile Cardinals hitter Brendan Donovan (the latter of whom New York was not too long ago related to) could possibly be very engaging as a short-term increase to the outfield combine whereas Decide recovers who may then shift to the infield combine long-term.
