As has been the case seemingly all season, the New York Yankees received both good and bad news on the injury front Friday. First baseman Luke Voit (sports hernia) came through his minor league rehab assignment well and has been activated off the 10-day injured list. To make room on the roster, third baseman Gio Urshela was placed on the 10-day injured list with a groin issue.
Here is the official announcement from the team:
Roster Moves: Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees returned from rehab and reinstated 1B Luke Voit from the 10-day injured list and placed INF Gio Urshela on the 10-day injured list with a left groin injury (retroactive to 8/29).
— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) August 30, 2019
The injured list stint effectively ends any chance Urshela had at the batting title. He racked up enough plate appearances to qualify just this past week, and now he'll miss at least 10 days. That's enough to take him out of the running. Urshela has been a godsend for the Yankees this season and is hitting .331/.370/.555 with 32 doubles and 18 home runs in 414 plate appearances.
Friday's injured list news is noteworthy. Historic, even. Urshela is the 29th different Yankee to be placed on the injured list this year, setting a new MLB record. The 2016 Dodgers held the previous record with 28 different players landing on what was then called the disabled list. Prior to that, the 2012 Red Sox held the record with 27 players.
The Yankees have used the injured list 36 separate times this season. Not surprisingly, New York has lost far and away the most man games to injury this year. From Spotrac:
Among the big-name Yankees who have missed time this season are Dellin Betances, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Aaron Judge, James Paxton, Gary Sanchez, Luis Severino, and Giancarlo Stanton. Betances and Severino have not thrown a single pitch this season and Stanton has played only nine games. Here's more on the injured Yankees.
Despite the injuries, the Yankees have baseball's best record at 88-47, and they are 11 games up in the AL East. Their big payroll allows them to paper over injuries, sure, but guys like Urshela, Cameron Maybin, and Mike Tauchman were acquired very cheaply. Others like Nestor Cortes Jr., Domingo German, Mike Ford, and Clint Frazier were brought up from the farm system. The Yankees have been the kings of the "next man up" mentality in 2019.
With Urshela sidelined, the Yankees are likely to slide DJ LeMahieu over to third base full-time, with Gregorius and Gleyber Torres manning the middle infield.
