Day To Day

Yet another Yankee player is now listed as day-to-day. It feels like there’s a new player in that club following every game. Nagging injuries have become the story of this team, and no one is safe from the bug. Derek Jeter caught it on Monday after getting hit in the leg. Mark Teixeira, after fouling a pitch off his foot in the first, is the latest to succumb.

In his recap last night, Jay from Fack Youk quipped that, “If there was a movie made about the Yanks this season, wouldn’t it have to be called Day-To-Day?” Who would star in this motion picture? It seems like just about every Yankee has played at least a supporting role.

Nick Johnson – back soreness – 3 days

Before Johnson was hurt, he was hurt. First he fouled a ball of his knee towards the end of camp, but he vowed to play on Opening Day and he did. Though he didn’t hit for most of April he did stay in the lineup. That is, until April 24 when he missed three days with back soreness. He came back fine from that, but it wasn’t long after that the soreness in his wrist became too great. He hit the DL, had surgery, and now has to wait until July, at the earliest, to return.

Jorge Posada – three injuries – 8 days total

While Johnson has suffered the most serious injury, Posada has been the most banged up Yankee in 2010. It’s not like he’s breaking down or anything. Two of his injuries have come from baseballs hitting him in inconvenient spots, and the other seems like a cascade from the first. That first one came when Jeremy Guthrie hit him in the knee with a pitch. That caused him to miss just one day, but it might have weakened his leg, leading to the calf strain that kept him out of the lineup for five days. Finally, he took a foul ball off the foot on the 16th and was day-to-day until the 19th, when the Yankees placed him on the DL with a foot fracture.

Alex Rodriguez – knee soreness/cramps – 1 day

The team said something about his knee hurting. Alex himself said it was just cramps. In any case, A-Rod got a day off on May 2nd. It seemed like just a routine day off. Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi have said that they’re trying to mix in a few off-days for Alex to keep him fresh. They could have played it off as just that, but apparently Joel Sherman of the Post found a source who said something about A-Rod’s knee. He’s hit just fine since then and has continued to play good defense, so the cramps story is easily believable.

Robinson Cano – knee contusion – 0 days

Everyone remembers hearing the sound of a Josh Beckett fastball ricocheting off Cano’s right knee. He tried to stay in the game, but after a pitch or two he jogged off the field. Surprisingly, he played DH the next day, and was at second the next. He is apparently an alumnus of the Derek Jeter School of Playing Hurt.

Al Aceves – bulging disc in back – 2 days

Before Aceves hit the DL he was listed as day-to-day, and on MOnday the 10th everything seemed cheery and optimistic. Aceves had hurt his back throwing a pitch in Boston the day before, and it looked bad. On Tuesday it was bad again, and the Yankees placed Aceves on the 15-day DL.

Nick Swisher – biceps soreness – a week or so

Swisher first faced biceps soreness on May 12th, but he played in a game or two before he came back for good on May 20th. For a while it seemed pretty bad. Girardi inserted Ramiro Pena as an emergency outfielder while leaving Swisher on the bench. He came back just fine, and has been raking ever since.

Marcus Thames – sprained ankle – a day or two

On May 19th Marcus Thames did something that, it seems, no other player or coach had before seen. After hitting a groundball single, he tossed his bat…in front of him. He then stepped on it, rolling his ankle. It looked worse than it really was, but it did keep Thames out of action for at least a game. On the 21st, two days after the injury, Girardi said he had him available to pinch hit. He made his next appearance on the 22nd, though he didn’t actually see a pitch. Girardi had him pinch hit against a lefty, but Jerry Manuel switched pitchers, so Girardi burned Thames and went with Miranda.

David Robertson – sore lower back – three games so far

David Robertson had to exit Saturday’s game with a sore back, which might or might not have stemmed from the liner he took off it earlier in the week. Again, it seems fine, and there hasn’t been a situation where he’s been needed. The starters have been that good.

Derek Jeter – leg injury of some sort – 0 days

Derek Jeter got hit in the leg with a pitch and eventually left the game. Jeter doesn’t get hurt, in his mind, so he didn’t miss any time.

Mark Teixeira – foul off the foot – we’ll see

Please, Mark, be like Derek and Robinson.