PHILADELPHIA – The Yankees have spent the summer without several of their bold-faced stars on the active roster. Aaron Judge remains in limbo as he waits for his fractured right rib to heal, and Giancarlo Stanton is moving slowly in his running progression after a pair of right calf strains.
A new concern arose on Saturday evening, when All-Star outfielder Cody Bellinger felt a grab in his left hamstring while running out an eighth-inning double in the Bombers’ 3-1 victory over the Phillies. Bellinger said he expects to undergo tests and hopes to avoid a stint on the injured list.
“I’ve never had a hamstring [injury] before,” Bellinger said. “It just feels a little tight. I really don’t think it’s anything too serious. I feel like it’s on the smaller side.”
Aboard following his knock off reliever Jonathan Bowlan, Bellinger said he felt tightness after rounding first base, which prompted immediate concern from the Yankees’ bench. From second base, Bellinger waved off manager Aaron Boone, remaining in the game until the end of the half-inning.
After Trent Grisham’s groundout, Bellinger came slowly off the field, heading directly down the dugout tunnel. Boone said Bellinger later told him that he would have had an issue scoring on a ball in play.
“I felt like it was smart to get out of there,” Bellinger said. “I’ll see how I wake up tomorrow and go from there. As the at-bat went on, it felt like it probably wasn’t the smartest decision to stay.”
Max Schuemann replaced Bellinger in left field for the bottom of the inning. Schuemann is likely to start in left field on Sunday, with the Phillies set to start left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, but Boone said he wasn’t ready to look ahead past that.
“I don’t want to speculate too much on it,” Boone said. “It looks like it could be something, but we’ll have a better idea getting up [in the morning] and then if we need to get tests, where we go from there.”
If Bellinger should land on the injured list, Spencer Jones would be a likely choice to be recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Bellinger has been battling through a lengthy slump, including a 31-game homerless streak, just two games shy of the longest power outage of his career. His last home run came on June 17 vs. the White Sox.
But Bellinger was beginning to show positive signs at the plate, including a tiebreaking sixth-inning RBI single on Sunday.
Bellinger has also been an exceptional defender in the outfield, making a long run in Sunday’s game to snare Bryson Stott’s sixth-inning foul ball. He entered Saturday with 19 defensive runs saved, tied for the most in the Majors.
“It’s tough, because our outfield has been suffering a lot this year – big names, the whole year,” said infielder José Caballero. “Cody is a big part of this team. I hope he feels better as soon as possible.”
In his second season with the Yankees, Bellinger is slashing .259/.350/.420 with 21 doubles, 11 homers and 53 RBIs in 102 games.
“He’s a huge member of our team and what we do,” Boone said. “He’s just a tremendous all-around player. Whether it’s some time or not, hopefully it’s on the minor side, but we’ll see.”