The Yankees suffer yet another injury
If you're a Yankees fan and you're on Twitter, then you probably know that a tradition every day around mid-afternoon for night games or late-morning for day games is to bitch about the lineup.
https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/1118222535156543488
Just look in the comments on any lineup tweet and you'll see what I mean. Why is Tauchman playing?! Why is Voit still batting third?! Where is Mike Ford?! Aaron Boone needs to go! Bring back Girardi!
It is exhausting.
Listen, I get just as annoyed over things like rest days for a player who just went 4-for-4 with two dingers or Brett Gardner hitting leadoff when they have a perfectly good alternative in DJ LeMahieu hitting close to .400. (Sidenote: be prepared for Gardy to be back leading off Wednesday vs the RHP Eovaldi.) But what is the team to do at this point? They could literally field an entire team -- a good one, mind you -- of injured players.
https://twitter.com/Baseball_Jimbo/status/1118233857948573697
Even though half the team is injured Yankees fans still expect to see Ruth, Mantle, DiMaggio, and Jeter in there every night. The 25-man roster includes Mike Tauchman, Tyler Wade, Kyle Higashioka and now Mike Ford, so you're going to see them play. Stanton, Andujar, Sanchez and Hicks are not available no matter how many times you tweet in anger about it.
If you want to question the medical staff or be angry they didn't sign certain free agents in the off season, that's a different story. But right now a significant amount of key players are hurt and the lineup is what it is.
Last chances for Bird?
The latest injury news today is that Greg Bird is hitting the IL a with left plantar fascia tear and he will be in a walking boot for two weeks and evaluated after that. While the news sucks, it isn't like Bird was helping the team. He was hitting .171 with 1 home run and playing barely league average defense. Mike Ford cannot be any worse.
What does this mean for Bird long term? Who knows. This is now the fourth season in a row that he's been injured. In 2016 he missed an entire season due to a torn labrum in his right shoulder. In 2017 he missed time because he had surgery to remove a bone in his right foot, and in 2018 he had a bone spur in his right ankle. This time it's his left foot, so at least he's spreading the pain around.
https://twitter.com/ByJamesWagner/status/1118239880889425921
The injuries are laughable at this point and they start a series against their biggest rival tonight. All you can ask for is to stay afloat until some guys come back.