Early in last night’s win, the Yankees lost right-hander Bryan Mitchell to a small nasal fracture after he was hit in the face by a line drive in the second inning. It was a really scary moment and all things considered, Mitchell escaped with minor damage. He’ll be monitored for concussion symptoms the next few days but otherwise there is no significant facial fracture or eye damage. It could have been really, really bad.
“You’re sick. Sick to your stomach, praying for the best,” said Brian McCann to reporters after the game. “You’re just hoping for the best outcome. When I went out there, I was like ‘Are you alright?’ and he said ‘I’m alright, I just need to get off the field.’ So it was good that he was responsive.”
The injury was a total fluke. Mitchell had a split second to react and there was nothing anyone could have done about it. That’s one of the more brutal aspects of baseball. Mitchell started the game because the Yankees wanted to give their other starters extra rest. He’d been sitting in the bullpen has the long reliever for a few weeks now. Mitchell figured to be first in line whenever the team wanted to use a spot starter again going forward as well.
In the short-term, the Yankees will need to replace Mitchell as the long man. Chad Jennings reported last night that Chris Capuano has cleared waivers and accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A, though I bet he doesn’t make it to Scranton. I expect to see Capuano in the bullpen tonight. No, Capuano is not very good, but he can throw multiple innings and is by far the best candidate for the long man job right now. It makes sense to bring him back.
More importantly, the Yankees are now down their sixth starter, and, at this very moment, they only have five healthy Major League caliber starters. They have some warm bodies in Triple-A who could soak up innings if need be (Kyle Davies, for example), but as far as actual big league caliber players, there are only five such healthy starters in the organization right now. Mitchell’s hurt and so is Michael Pineda.
Being down to five starters is sorta scary, but the good news is the Yankees won’t have to ride this out too much longer. Big Mike is on a minor league rehab assignment and it seems likely he will make at least one more rehab start before rejoining the rotation. Pineda himself said he feels he needs another start just to build his pitch count a bit more — he threw 42 pitches in his first rehab start Sunday — and get a better feel for his changeup and slider.
In addition to Pineda’s return, rosters expand two weeks from today, so the Yankees will be able to call up plenty of extra pitchers to give Joe Girardi as many options as possible. They’ve been cycling through relievers all season and I’m guessing they’ll call all of those guys up on September 1st. Not after the Triple-A postseason or anything like that, the first day they’re eligible. The big league team is the priority.
So with Pineda returning and rosters set to expand, the Yankees only need their current rotation to hold down the fort for another two weeks. (I fully expect them to use a six-man rotation in September with Pineda joining the current starting five.) No, adding a bunch of relievers on September 1st doesn’t replace a lost starter like Mitchell, but innings are innings, and they’ll have plenty of bodies available.
The Yankees opted to stick with their internal rotation options rather than make a trade at the deadline, and hey, Luis Severino has made them look pretty smart so far. Mitchell’s injury was a total fluke, though it really stretches the club’s rotation depth nonethless. They need Pineda back soon and need to get by these next two weeks until rosters expand. Another rotation loss would be very tough to overcome at this point.
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