TORONTO -- A little more than a week after losing Aaron Judge to injury, the Yankees are down another outfielder.
Trent Grisham was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday, having exited Friday’s 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre with a right hamstring strain.
In a corresponding move, the Yankees returned outfielder Jasson Domínguez from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 10-day injured list.
“We had a similar one here [in Toronto] last year that was a day-to-day,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We thought it was a little more than that one, and felt like it was going to be at least several days here.”
Grisham slowed between first and second base after hitting a two-run single off Mason Fluharty, taking the extra bag on the throw and sliding in safely on a play that cut Toronto’s lead to two runs at the time.
The Blue Jays challenged the call, and when the safe call was confirmed, Grisham was already in the visitors’ dugout. Pinch-runner Max Schuemann replaced him at second base.
Grisham has been one of the Yankees’ most productive hitters following a slow start to his season, batting .370 (27-for-73) with two homers and eight RBIs in his past 19 games through Friday.
He went through light mobility exercises on the field in Toronto before Saturday’s game. Boone said that it is possible Grisham could miss only the minimum 10 days.
“It’s a great sign that right away he’s up moving around,” Boone said. “Hopefully it’s something that’s not a long-term thing.”
Domínguez had been rehabbing with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he homered Friday in a 6-3 loss to Lehigh Valley.
He last played in the Majors on May 7, when he sustained a left AC joint sprain while making a spectacular catch, crashing into the left-field fence at Yankee Stadium to rob the Rangers’ Brandon Nimmo of an extra-base hit.
Boone had said before Friday’s game that the team planned to have Domínguez play seven to nine innings on both Friday and Saturday before re-evaluating.
Spencer Jones is already getting an opportunity in the outfield as the Yankees handle the absence of Judge, who is expected to be re-evaluated in mid-July as he recovers from a stress fracture in his first right rib.
Thus, the Yankees’ outfield currently projects to be comprised of Cody Bellinger, Jones and Domínguez.
Domínguez had played right field only once during his Minor League career before this week. Boone said the early reports have been positive.
“The last few days have gone really well in how he’s taken to it,” Boone said. “I want to give it a look. Hopefully this alignment is something that can work for us here in the near term.”