NEW YORK — The Yankees injury list keeps shifting, and this weekend brought both a fresh setback and real signs of hope. One starter went down with a worrying new problem. Two important bats moved closer to coming back. The result is a roster picture that grows more tangled by the day, even as relief inches toward the horizon.
The latest blow landed behind the plate. But for the first time in a while, the news was not all bad for a Yankees team trying to stay afloat without Aaron Judge.
Wells lands on the IL with neck trouble
The Yankees absorbed another hit Saturday when catcher Austin Wells went on the 10-day injured list with cervical headaches. The issue came on suddenly. Wells reported neck discomfort and a related headache late Friday night, and the timing could hardly have been worse.
By the time Wells spoke up, the Yankees had already told JC Escarra he was being optioned to Triple-A. A neurologist evaluated Wells on Saturday, and while he tested negative for a concussion, the headaches and the danger of carrying only one catcher pushed the team to make the move. Manager Aaron Boone explained the reasoning after Saturday’s game against the Red Sox was postponed by storms.
“It’s tough to play the game with one catcher,” Boone said. “It’s not another position where, that’s a tough place to be. And just with the neck, not something we want to mess around with, so feel like we kind of had to make the move.”
Boone said the complaint was new as of Friday night. He could not pinpoint a single cause, though a May 19 backswing from Blue Jays outfielder Jesus Sanchez did catch Wells in the helmet. Wells stayed in that game after an evaluation.
“It’s tough to say if it’s cumulative stuff,” Boone said. “But Friday night, he noticed he felt like, just with the neck and headache stuff. Obviously we wanted to look into that.”
A scramble behind the plate
Wells’ injury forced the Yankees into a hurried catching reshuffle. Escarra, optioned just hours earlier after Friday’s 5-3 loss, was recalled from Triple-A. He now pairs with Ali Sanchez to form the active catching tandem while Wells recovers.
The timing stings because the position was already a weakness. Entering Saturday, Wells and Escarra had combined to hit just .171 with a .527 OPS, the worst output of any spot in the Yankees lineup and among the weakest catching production in the majors. Wells himself had hit .166 with a .278 on-base percentage and four homers across 47 games, yet his defense and game-calling made him hard to replace. He had started 45 of the Yankees’ 63 games.
The Yankees do not appear ready to move Ben Rice back behind the plate. The club still views Rice mainly as a first baseman, partly to protect the bat that has carried the lineup. Boone expects Wells’ absence to be short and rest-related, but more neck testing on Sunday will determine the real timeline.
Stanton ramps up his return
Here is where the news turned brighter for the Yankees. Giancarlo Stanton is making steady progress, and his return feels closer. For the second time in four days, the slugger took live batting practice at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, facing rehabbing pitcher Angel Chivilli.
Stanton took four at-bats, then did some running, moving in a straight line in the outfield before rounding first base as he works back from a right calf strain. Boone sounded encouraged while stressing patience.
“Hopefully sooner rather than later,” Boone said of a potential return. “But he’s continuing to build up the running portion.”
Stanton will not join the Yankees on the road trip that begins Monday in Cleveland and ends next Sunday in Toronto. He will stay in New York to keep building his running. Because he is not playing the field, Stanton may avoid a minor league rehab assignment, though the Yankees are not close enough to decide. General manager Brian Cashman has suggested Stanton could be two to three weeks away, pointing to a mid-to-late June window.
Dominguez moves through his rehab
The other encouraging update involves Jasson Dominguez, who is further along in his comeback. The switch-hitting outfielder has been out since suffering a left AC joint sprain on a play at the wall on May 7.
Dominguez began a minor league rehab assignment Friday, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout as the designated hitter at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was expected to play the outfield Sunday in his second rehab game, an important step toward returning to a defensive role. He will likely need a few more games next week before rejoining the Yankees.
His return matters for the alignment. Without Judge, the Yankees outfield has been unsettled. Spencer Jones is now in the mix, Jose Caballero and Max Schuemann have taken right-field reps, and Cody Bellinger could shift based on how quickly Dominguez and Stanton come back. Dominguez does not need to replace Judge, but he would give the Yankees another athletic switch-hitter and cut down on patchwork defense.
A depth chart under real strain
The bigger picture shows a Yankees roster being tested on multiple fronts at once. This is no longer a single injury to absorb. It is a cluster hitting several layers of the team together.
Judge’s fracture removes the heart of the lineup. Wells’ IL stint thins an already shaky catching group. Stanton and Dominguez can help, but both remain in build-up mode. The rotation carries its own questions, with Max Fried nursing a left elbow bone bruise and awaiting fresh imaging the week of June 7, while Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil sit on longer recovery tracks. Chivilli, the reliever, is closer after throwing live batting practice this week.
Even so, the Yankees are not without answers. Gerrit Cole is back in the rotation. Rice has become a genuine power source. Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Paul Goldschmidt and Anthony Volpe give Boone several ways to build a lineup. The talent remains. The challenge is that until Judge returns, every roster move carries more weight, and this latest wave of injuries is the first real stress test of the Yankees’ depth.
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