NEW YORK — The Yankees spent most of Saturday afternoon trying to solve Dylan Cease. By the time they finally did, another problem had already moved to the front of their season.
Ryan Weathers walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium in the fourth inning of a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays with left forearm discomfort. The left-hander threw a sweeper to Myles Straw, circled the mound in pain and called for catcher Austin Wells before manager Aaron Boone and a trainer came out. Weathers left after 3 1/3 innings and was sent for imaging.
The injury scare came on a day when the Yankees also learned Giancarlo Stanton had suffered a moderate left calf strain while running the bases during his rehabilitation. Stanton was already working back from a right calf strain. Aaron Judge, Max Fried, Ryan McMahon, Cody Bellinger and Clarke Schmidt were also unavailable, leaving New York without major pieces of both its lineup and pitching staff.
Saturday’s loss snapped the Yankees’ five-game winning streak and dropped them to 73-56. They remained 3 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East after Tampa Bay also lost. Cease earned the win after taking a no-hitter into the seventh. Weathers took the loss, and Toronto closer Louie Varland recorded his 29th save.
Toronto finished with 15 hits, while the Yankees had five. New York did not get its first hit until two outs in the seventh, then pulled within one run on Luis García Jr.’s two-run homer in the eighth. The Yankees had the tying run on base in the ninth but could not finish the comeback.
The Yankees did not have a postgame update on Weathers’ imaging. MLB reported that 15 Yankees players had spent time on the injured list this season before any decision on Weathers. That backdrop made one postgame line from Jazz Chisholm Jr. land as both a joke and a diagnosis.
Chisholm finds a joke inside a serious Yankees problem
Jazz Chisholm had just spent nine innings in the middle of the Yankees’ comeback attempt. His two-out single in the seventh ended Cease’s no-hit bid, and he opened the ninth with a double. He was stranded when Varland struck out Trent Grisham to end the game.
Asked afterward about the stream of injuries around the Yankees, Chisholm condensed the situation into six words.
“The IL team is great.”
He then explained why getting those players back would matter beyond production.
“The IL team is great, just to say. Just to have them back would just be a huge boost in everyone’s morale. I feel like everybody healthy is such good energy.”
The line came after one of the Yankees’ roughest injury days of the season. Earlier Saturday, Boone disclosed Stanton’s latest setback. Hours later, Weathers left with an arm issue. New York had entered the weekend expecting to get healthier.
Three former MVPs sit inside the Yankees’ injury picture
The current Yankees injury list carries unusual star power.
Judge, Stanton and Bellinger are former league MVPs. Judge has been out since early June with a stress fracture of his right first rib. Bellinger has been sidelined since late July with a left hamstring strain. Stanton has played only 24 games this season because of calf problems.
Fried is on the 15-day injured list with a recurrence of a bone bruise in his left elbow. He threw a bullpen session Saturday and could advance to live batting practice early this week. Schmidt continues his Tommy John rehabilitation and is targeting a possible September return.
McMahon joined the injured list Friday with a Grade 2 sprain of his left thumb. The Yankees believe he could return close to the minimum 10 days if his recovery stays on course.
That gives Chisholm’s “IL team” three former MVPs, a frontline starter, the Yankees’ regular third baseman and a pitcher who could help the bullpen in September. Weathers could deepen the group if his forearm problem requires an IL stint.
Chisholm remains central to the Yankees’ patchwork lineup
Chisholm has been one of the healthy regulars New York has needed to keep taking the field.
He entered Sunday batting .217 with 17 home runs, 49 RBIs and 34 stolen bases, according to MLB statistics. His 34 steals rank second in the American League.
On Saturday, Chisholm supplied two of New York’s five hits. His seventh-inning single broke up Cease’s no-hit bid after 6 2/3 innings. Wells followed with an RBI single.
García cut the deficit to 4-3 with his two-run homer in the eighth. Chisholm doubled to start the ninth, but the Yankees could not bring him home.
The active roster has kept New York firmly in the postseason race. The larger question is how much of its injured core can return before October.
One reinforcement is due back, but the Yankees still wait on Weathers
Bellinger should provide the first immediate break in the injury cycle. MLB’s injury tracker says he is expected to be activated Sunday after completing a Triple-A rehabilitation assignment. The Yankees optioned utilityman Max Schuemann to Triple-A after Saturday’s game, creating roster room.
Fried could follow if his elbow responds well. McMahon is also targeting a relatively short absence. Judge has resumed a hitting progression, including tee work, with a September return still expected.
Stanton’s outlook is much less certain after the new left calf strain. Schmidt remains in a throwing progression. The Yankees are still waiting to learn whether Weathers’ forearm discomfort is a brief interruption or another significant loss.
The Yankees close the Toronto series Sunday at Yankee Stadium with Carlos Rodon scheduled to face José Soriano. The club enters the finale 73-56 and 3 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay.
For now, Chisholm’s joke remains painfully current.
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