Certainly no one thought before the season began that an injury to Willie Calhoun would have any impact on the Yankees, but no one could have imagined the outfield churning out injuries at such an alarming rate.
That list now includes Calhoun, who suffered a left quad injury while running out a ground ball in the bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday night in a 4-2 win over Seattle in The Bronx.
Calhoun said he suffered a similar injury while with Texas in 2019 and that it sidelined him for about a month.
He sounded resigned to stint on the injured list, but was hopeful this injury was not as severe as the one from four years ago.
Calhoun added that has dealt with numerous left leg injuries over the past few years.
Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, Calhoun has a solid .747 OPS against right-handed pitching this year, splitting his time between DH and the outfield.
Calhoun would join Aaron Judge and Greg Allen on the IL, and he could be replaced on the roster by Oswaldo Cabrera, who was just optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, especially since Franchy Cordero was just placed on the IL at SWB.
Cabrera has been a disappointment at the plate this season after a promising debut in 2022.
The Yankees also have had Harrison Bader go on the IL twice and they’re still waiting for Giancarlo Stanton to get back in the outfield after his return from an IL stint for a hamstring injury.
They’ve gotten contributions from unexpected sources, such as Jake Bauers and Billy McKinney — who both homered on Wednesday — and have also used Cabrera, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Estevan Florial in the outfield.
“This is part of it,’’ manager Aaron Boone said of the rash of outfield injuries. “We’ve got to play. The season doesn’t wait for anyone. It’s created opportunities for people that a number of guys have taken advantage of. It’s what we prepared ourselves for. We know these things are gonna come up throughout the season and you’ve got to be ready for it as best you can.”
General manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday the Yankees would be open to making additions prior to the trade deadline and they “knocked on every door” in search of an outfielder in the offseason, to no avail.
Last season, they acquired Bader and Andrew Benintendi to reinforce the outfield before the deadline.
Benintendi was solid after arriving from Kansas City before he went down with a wrist injury, while Bader finally recovered from plantar fasciitis and was one of the Yankees’ most dangerous hitters in the postseason.