The Yankees placed outfielder Brett Gardner on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday night. Gardner was sent for an MRI and the results showed a muscle strain and a bruised right elbow. The injury occurred in Tuesday’s night game against the Twins while making a sliding catch in left field.
Gardner was scratched about an hour before last night’s game after feeling some discomfort when he took some swings in the indoor cage.
“We will have to sit him down for awhile,” Joe Girardi said. “We’ll try to get him back after 15 days.”
Gardner is one of the hottest hitters on the team with a .321 batting average and a .424 on-base percentage.
Instead of bringing up another outfielder, the Yankees called up right-handed reliever Cody Eppley from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to help out the taxed bullpen. Eppley has thrown 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball for the Triple-A Yankees. On April 5, the Yankees claimed Eppley off waivers from the Texas Rangers.
Girardi says Andruw Jones, Raul Ibanez and Eduardo Nunez will fill in for Gardner in left.
