Voit lands on injured list with sports hernia

Slugger could miss 6 weeks if he has surgery; Hale also placed on IL as Yankees recall Holder, Valera

July 31st, 2019

NEW YORK -- As Brian Cashman surveyed his team's needs in advance of the Trade Deadline, the Yankees’ general manager said that he did not envision adding another position player, believing that his roster had more than enough offensive firepower to drive toward the postseason.

“I'm looking at pitching -- rotation and 'pen,” Cashman said this past weekend in Boston. “I don't see much, if anything, on the position-player side that we're dealing with. Our main focus is pitching and seeing if there are any matches on the pitching front.”

That is likely still the case, even as the Yankees absorb the possibility that could miss six weeks in the event that his sports hernia requires surgery. The slugger was placed on the 10-day injured list prior to Wednesday's game against the D-backs, though manager Aaron Boone said that the Yankees should be covered at first base between and .

"We’ll manage and we’ll be fine," Boone said on Wednesday. "And hopefully it’s a shorter-term situation with Luke. Worst case, hopefully we’ll have him back before the end of the season and we have all the people capable of withstanding that."

Voit was forced to exit Tuesday's 4-2 loss to Arizona after aggravating the injury during a third-inning strikeout. The Yankees also placed right-hander on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Sunday, with a lumbar spine strain. In corresponding moves, right-hander and infielder were recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Encarnacion started at first base on Wednesday, while LeMahieu -- who has been out of the starting lineup for four games with a minor groin strain -- is expected to start against the Red Sox on Friday.

The 28-year-old Voit has been enjoying a strong season, posting career highs in nearly every offensive category, with a .278/.392/.493 slash line, 19 homers and 54 RBIs in 94 games.

This is the second IL assignment of the year for Voit, who sustained a lower abdominal strain while running the bases against the Red Sox in London. Boone said that he believes Voit's current injury pre-dates the London Series, and that the Yankees plan to determine Voit's course of action over the next 24-48 hours.

"It’s one of those things that could be treated in a day-to-day scenario, or it could turn into a surgery situation, which would be more of a six-week-type thing," Boone said. "We haven’t declared that. Sometimes you’re able to treat this thing and it becomes a day-to-day thing. Sometimes surgery is the necessary way to go."

Comeback trail

• Voit's injury prompted questions concerning , who has been on the injured list since April with a left plantar fascia tear. Boone said that Bird is in the rehab phase at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla., and is not performing baseball activities.

(right knee inflammation) had a lubricating injection on Tuesday. Boone said that he is optimistic that the left-hander will be able to rejoin the rotation in about two weeks.

This date in Yankees history

July 31, 1938: In the Yankees' longest game of the season, New York's Spud Chandler pitched 15 innings in the second game of a doubleheader, permitting eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts. The Yankees defeated the White Sox, 7-3, in three hours and 38 minutes.