NEW YORK — New York Yankees reliever Fernando Cruz was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation after the right-hander felt pain in an outing against the New York Mets.
Cruz said he had been dealing with inflammation for the past three weeks and the pain intensified when he threw 26 pitches to the final seven hitters of a 3-2 loss. Cruz got the final out of the eighth inning, the first out of the ninth but loaded the bases and allowed a tiebreaking sacrifice fly to Francisco Lindor.
“I don’t put any excuse on that game particularly, but I felt different with my arm,” Cruz said before the Yankees concluded their three-game series with the Texas Rangers. “Obviously but we battled through it. We finished the inning and we’re going to be back soon.”
After notifying team trainers, Cruz took a cortisone shot that weakened his arm for the next two days but said imaging and MRI did not show any signs of a further injury.
The move is retroactive and Cruz said he threw from distances of 60 to 75 feet. Manager Aaron Boone said Cruz will join the Yankees on their upcoming nine-game road trip and could start throwing off a mound shortly.
Acquired from the Cincinnati Reds for catcher Jose Trevino on Dec. 20, Cruz is 1-2 with two saves and a 2.66 ERA in 21 outings. Known for his splitter, the 35-year-old has 31 of his 35 strikeouts with the pitch and is holding opposing hitters to a .155 average.
“He’s been great, but these things happen,” Boone said. “I think based on the MRI and stuff, we don’t think it’s anything too significant. So hopefully this little downtime gets him to where he needs to be.”
To replace Cruz on the roster, the Yankees recalled Brent Headrick from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Headrick made four scoreless appearances with the Yankees in the opening weeks of the season and the 27-year-old was 2-0 with a 3.72 ERA in eight outings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Read the full article here