Fractured ankle sends Oswaldo Cabrera to IL; Yankees teammates visit him in hospital

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Oswaldo Cabrera is headed back to New York this Tuesday to undergo further testing and evaluation with the Yankees’ medical team after suffering a left ankle fracture during Monday’s win over the Seattle Mariners. The injury occurred in the ninth inning at T-Mobile Park when Cabrera’s leg buckled during a slide into home plate.

Aaron Judge and Yankees visit Oswaldo Cabrera after painful injury

Aaron Judge sat quietly in the corner of the hospital room. Oswaldo Cabrera, still in his Yankees uniform with his jersey unbuttoned and his left foot braced, lay in the hospital bed. Hours earlier, Cabrera had fractured his ankle in a painful play at the plate during the ninth inning of the Yankees’ 11–5 win over the Mariners.

“He’s my brother,” Aaron Judge said to The Athletics. “You’ve got to be there for your teammates — in the good times and the bad. He’d do the same for me.”

After the game, a wave of Yankees players, coaches, and staff visited Cabrera at Harborview Medical Center, located just a mile from T-Mobile Park. They came in small groups throughout the night. Cabrera, despite the injury, greeted them with his usual upbeat energy.

“He was in Cabby spirits,” Judge said. “Smiling, joking. That’s just who he is.”

Manager Aaron Boone said the visit was meant to lift Cabrera’s spirits, but in the end, it was Cabrera who lifted theirs.

“He was smiling, happy, cracking jokes,” Boone said. “That’s Cabby.”

One player described the dirt behind home plate where Oswaldo Cabrera fell as “so hard… just terrible.” Another said the mood lightened when Cabrera began joking with teammates between rounds of medication.

Oswaldo Cabrera injured his ankle after rounding home plate on Judge’s sacrifice fly. The throw brought Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh up the line. Cabrera dodged him and, in the process, overshot the plate. When he planted his foot to redirect, his ankle buckled. He still managed to score, reaching back to touch the plate before collapsing in pain.

Medical personnel treated him on the field before he was taken by ambulance. With no family in Seattle and only a Yankees trainer by his side, the team wanted to show up for him.

Oswaldo Cabrera was released from the hospital overnight and reunited with the team at their hotel Tuesday morning. He shared breakfast and laughter in the lobby before flying back to New York that same day. He’ll be evaluated by team doctors on Wednesday and is likely to undergo surgery Thursday.

The Yankees officially placed Oswaldo Cabrera on the 10-day injured list and reinstated DJ LeMahieu following his rehab assignment. But replacing Cabrera — emotionally and athletically — won’t be easy.

He had started 30 of the Yankees’ 41 games this season, mostly at third base, hitting .243 with a home run and 11 RBIs. After years as a utilityman, Cabrera was finally settling into an everyday role.

“It’s just really unfortunate,” DJ LeMahieu said. “He’s a great guy and was playing great baseball.”

The Yankees are now scrambling for answers at third base. LeMahieu is back but expected to play second until Jazz Chisholm Jr. returns from an oblique injury. Oswald Peraza is a likely fill-in at third, though questions remain about his bat. Jorbit Vivas may also be part of the rotation, but he’s best suited for second base.

Top prospect George Lombard Jr. was just promoted to Double-A Somerset and isn’t seen as a short-term solution. A trade remains an option, but the deadline is still two months away, and prices could be steep.

Among potential targets: Minnesota’s Willi Castro, Chicago’s Nico Hoerner, and Tampa Bay’s Yandy Díaz — though internal and financial complications surround each.

For now, the Yankees are focused on Cabrera, who has become the emotional heartbeat of the clubhouse.

“We’re his family,” Judge said. “Even if I’m just sitting in the corner, I’m there for him.”

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