Gary Sanchez is day-to-day with a right hand contusion suffered in the fourth inning of Saturday's 6-3 Yankees loss to the Rays. X-rays were negative, and Sanchez and manager Aaron Boone were relieved by the diagnosis.
"I definitely feel better now than when it happened, with more movement in my fingers," Sanchez said after the game.
"I haven’t seen Gary yet, but I sensed even later in the game he was already feeling better," Boone added.
Sanchez took a foul tip off his right (throwing) hand in the top of the fourth, as he had it placed on the inside of his left leg and took a foul ball on a 1-1 pitch to Randy Arozarena.
After a brief consultation with trainers, Sanchez stayed in, and even batted in the bottom of the fourth, flying out to center – but after coming out to catch Jordan Montgomery’s warm-up pitches in the top of the fifth, Sanchez was replaced by Kyle Higashioka.
"He usually wears things pretty well out there and waves me off, but I think it was affecting him throwing, so I felt like it was best to get him out of there," Boone said.
As he was coming out of the game, YES cameras got a shot of Sanchez’s right hand, which appeared to be swelling rapidly, and Sanchez admitted he was worried at that point there may be some structural damage.
"When I got hit, you feel the pain of course, but it felt like I had mobility in my fingers. After that inning was over, after that at-bat, that’s when it kind of starting swelling and I started losing mobility," Sanchez said. "I was a little concerned because that crosses your mind. We did the tests and when they told me it was negative, that gives you peace of mind."
Higashioka was likely to start Sunday anyway given that Gerrit Cole will be on the mound for the Yankees, but Boone is confident Sanchez will be ready when the Yankees host the Braves on Tuesday.
"I’ll play Higgy tomorrow into the off-day, but my feeling is Gary will be back in there after the off-day," the skipper said.
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