1:30pm: The Yankees announced that Cabrera has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left ankle fracture. LeMahieu has been reinstated from the IL as the corresponding move.
7:40am: While the Yankees beat the Mariners 11-5 last night, the primary focus in the aftermath of last night’s game was not on the score but on the status of infielder Oswaldo Cabrera. As noted by Greg Joyce of the New York Post, Cabrera went down while attempting to score on a sac fly due to an ankle injury, and eventually had to be loaded onto a stretcher so an ambulance could take him off the field and transport him to a local hospital. Some sort of update on Cabrera’s status will likely be made available at some point today, although it seems all but certain he’s ticketed for an extended absence.
“I think everyone understands it was a pretty serious situation,” manager Aaron Boone said of the injury, as relayed by Joyce. “Just praying for our guy Cabby tonight and hoping for the best. Trust that he’s in good hands as he goes through the night. Obviously a great game in a lot of ways, but a lot of guys feeling for their teammate, who’s the best of them.”
With Cabrera presumably out for the foreseeable future, the Yankees will need to figure out how to address an infield mix that already had questionable depth with him in the mix. Anthony Volpe and Paul Goldschmidt are both everyday players at shortstop and first base respectively, but second and third base are both major question marks. Jazz Chisholm Jr. can play one position or the other on a regular basis but is currently on the shelf with a “high-grade” oblique strain that will keep him out of commission for at least another month. The Yankees are getting DJ LeMahieu back from the injured list tomorrow, as he was already expected to rejoin the club today even prior to Cabrera’s injury.
LeMahieu was previously expected to get regular playing time at second base for the time being, but it’s possible that Cabrera’s injury shifts that expectation. While he hit just .204/.269/.259 in his age-35 campaign last year, LeMahieu offers a lengthy track record as an average-or-better hitter in the majors and hit quite well during his rehab assignment at the minor league level. That’s likely enough to make him the Yankees’ top infielder after Volpe and Goldschmidt due to the slim pickings.
Jorbit Vivas is currently holding things down at second base but has hit just .158/.304/.211 in ten games at the position. Pablo Reyes and Oswald Peraza are both on the roster as well, but Reyes is hitting an even more lackluster .174/.240/.174. Peraza has slashed only a slightly more more respectable .204/.278/.388 in 54 plate appearances this year, and could be platooned with the lefty-swinging Vivas at whichever position LeMahieu doesn’t play.
Outside of the players currently in the active roster mix, the depth is lacking. Braden Shewmake offers a left-handed alternative to Vivas and is already on the 40-man roster, but he’s hitting just .197 with a 94 wRC+ at Triple-A this year. Andrew Velazquez and Max Burt are both in the organization as potential upper-level depth options, but Velazquez has never hit much in either the majors or minors while Burt has just 47 games at Triple-A under his belt as a 28-year-old. Perhaps the Yankees could look for an external addition to their infield, but any players available at this point in the calendar would likely be relatively low-impact options.
