As the 18-16 Yankees continue to soak in back-to-back walk off wins over the Washington Nationals from this past weekend, manager Aaron Boone also used those days to update reporters on the status of several injured Bombers – some of whom could see action this week.
First baseman Luke Voit is expected to return to the New York Yankees this week as the team travels to Tampa Bay to face the Rays on Tuesday, Boone said Sunday morning.
After taking a few at-bats in his Friday AAA outing with the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, Voit was slated to play seven innings on Saturday and has a designated hitter role today against the Syracuse Mets before his return.
Following Sunday’s walk-off victory against Washington, the Yankees optioned third baseman Miguel Andujar to the team’s AAA affiliate, the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Andujar played seven innings that day before being subbed out by Tyler Wade.
Meanwhile third baseman Gio Urshela is still nursing a knee injury.
“Gio’s doing pretty well this morning,” Boone said on Saturday in regards to the third baseman’s left knee injury, adding that he will “continue to be optimistic this is a day to day thing.”
“The hope” is for Urshela also to make his return on Tuesday in Tampa, the manager added.
“He’s gonna go through some baseball activities today and kind of get him going. … We’ll see how he responds today,” Boone said.
Following his collision with Astros catcher Martín Maldonado Tuesday night, second baseman Rougned Odor has returned to baseball activity.
Sunday morning, Odor and Urshela were fielding ground balls and planned on getting into the batting cage, Boone said.
“He’s doing well, he feels good,” Boone added, also saying that he’s “kind of waiting to see how they both do” before either Odor or Urshela make a return to the lineup.
“We’ll see how it goes and see where they’re at and see where their progression is from there,” Boone said.
Right handed sidewinder Darren O’Day likely has at least another three to four weeks a couple more weeks “no throw” activity, Boone said on Sunday.
“Everything’s going well, making improvements, but still a ways off from being able to start throwing again,” Boone said.
Reliever Zach Britton threw a bullpen with sliders tossed into the mix on Friday and has another slated for this Tuesday, according to Boone on Saturday.
Following that, the left-handed pitcher will likely toss a simulated game next Saturday before starting his rehab assignment.
Right-handed pitching prospect Clarke Schmidt hasn’t seen any mound action just yet, and is now in what Boone called a “build up phase” where he’s currently throwing from 90 to 100 plus feet.
The Yankees skipper also addressed the team dipping to a 16-16 record following Friday night’s 11-4 shellacking to Washington.
“As far as over .500 this or that, we gotta just make sure we’re head down playing consistent baseball and that’ll take care of itself,” Boone said Saturday.
The Yankees now head to Tampa with an 18-16 record thanks to a successful, 7-2 homestand in the Bronx.
