The Yankees were focused on reliever Michael King, who unexpectedly exited Friday’s game after defeating the Orioles, 7-6, at Camden Yards.
The initial read on King’s X-ray was an elbow fracture, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, and he will miss the remainder of the season.
If the Yankees (65-30) lose King for an extended period of time, it will be a huge blow, and it may prompt them to be more aggressive in their search for relief help before the Aug. 2 end of the transfer window.
Following Aroldis Chapman‘s three-run homer to Anthony Santander, which cut the Yankees’ lead to 7-6, King entered and retired the next 2 batters to end the seventh inning.
To begin the Baltimore eighth, King retired Odor and threw two 95-mph sinkers for strikes against Ramon Urias.
King bent at the waist and shouted into his glove before stepping off the field and into the clubhouse with manager Aaron Boone and head athletic trainer Tim Lentych by his side.
Chad Green, the Yankees’ high-leverage setup man, left a May 19 game at Camden Yards with a strained forearm and later underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Miguel Castro, another right-hander, is currently on the 15-day injured list with a right shoulder strain.
After tossing a scoreless minor league rehab inning with Class AA Somerset on Friday, the Yankees could have Ron Marinaccio back in the bullpen by Sunday.
After recovering from Tommy John surgery, the Yankees hope to have Zack Britton back in their bullpen by September.
However, it will be difficult to replace King, who pitched to a 2.29 ERA and refined the slider taught to him by Corey Kluber to complement his high-octane fastball.
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