For the second time this season, the Yankees lost both their catcher and starting pitcher to injury in the same game. Andy Pettitte would leave after 4.2 innings with tightness in his trapezius muscle, and Chris Stewart followed in the seventh after hurting his groin while running the bases. Back on April 26, New York lost pitcher Ivan Nova with an arm injury and catcher Francisco Cervelli to a broken hand.
The injury to Pettitte isn’t too concerning, however, according to Chad Jennings. Pettitte had asked manager Joe Girardi and the trainers if he could stay in the game and battle through it, but it was best that he didn’t test it. Stewart went for an MRI, but the results were not immediately known.
It’s likely that Stewart will land on the disabled list, since a groin injury to a catcher can be debilitating and hard to recover from. Should that happen, the Yankees have veteran Bobby Wilson down at Triple-A who could be called up. Prospects J.R. Murphy and Gary Sanchez don’t appear to be ready yet. It’s always possible the Yankees look outside of the organization for help as well.
It’s unclear if Pettitte will miss his next start, but the Yankees will probably be careful with the soon to be 41-year-old. More information on both players should be available closer to game-time tonight.
Yankees not too concerned about Pettitte’s back, but Stewart getting an MRI on his groin.
— Lohud Yankees Blog (@LoHudYankees) May 17, 2013
