The New York Yankees have run into a difficult stretch as they attempt to defend their American League championship, losing six in a row before pulling out a victory over the New York Mets in the finale of their “Subway Series” on Sunday. Leading the AL East by seven games as recently as May 28, the Bronx Bombers have won just 14 while losing 21 since then and now sit 3 1/2 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays ahead of Tuesday’s MLB slate.
An announcement by the team earlier on Tuesday won’t make things any better.
A Yankees Pitching Staff Beset by Health Issues
The Yankees have been plagued by injuries since Spring Training, especially to their pitching staff. Before the regular season even started, the Yankees lost their ace, 2023 Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole to Tommy John surgery, as well as the 2024 Rookie of the Year Luis Gil to a lat muscle strain that continues to keep him on the sidelines, even with the All-Star break less than a week away.
Their No. 3 starter Clarke Schmidt started the season on the injured list, finally making his debut on April 16, only to go back on the IL again on July 4. A few days later it was revealed that Schmidt will likely need Tommy John as well, and is likely to miss the rest of the season in any case.
Now, on Tuesday, the Yankees announced yet another blow to the pitching staff, this time to the bullpen. The Yankees relief corps has been shaky all season, with a collective 4.03 ERA that ranks 18th out the 30 MLB teams.
According to the Yankees announcement, right-handed, 34-year-old middle reliever Mark Leiter Jr. has been placed on the 15-day injured list with what the team described as a “left fibular head stress fracture.”
Leiter’s Injury Happened June 24
The fibula is the calf bone. Stress fractures of the fibula are usually caused by repetitive overuse of the leg, but according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone, Leiter suffered the injury when he was covering first base on an infield ground ball by Elly de la Cruz in an 11-inning loss to the Cincinnati Reds way back on June 24.
Boone said that Leiter “felt a little pop” which was originally diagnosed as a calf injury. But though the righty felt that he was improving, the pain became more severe during the weekend Subway Series.
âI was able to compete, I was able to feel like I had my legs under me, and it was getting better each day,â Leiter said on Tuesday, as quoted by the New York Post. âAnd then on Saturday, warming up, felt it again a little more, and Sunday I felt compromised for the first time since it really happened.â
Leiter has been a lynchpin for the Yankees’ relief corps, appearing in 41 games, more than any pitcher on the staff except for southpaw reliever Tim Hill, with 42.
The 34 1/3 innings Leiter has handled make him the second-most heavily used reliever, behind only Hill (40 1/3), meaning that his absence for at least the next 15 days puts additional pressure on the already struggling bullpen.
The Yankees did not announce any timetable for when Leiter would return to the Yankees bullpen.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Yankees Make Worrying Announcement After 6-Game Losing Streak Ends appeared first on Heavy Sports.