By WFAN.com
Brian Cashman joined Mike Francesa on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the state of the Yankees. Cashman chatted about team health and the AL East race.
Entering Wednesday, the Yankees trail the first-place Boston Red Sox by 10 games. The Yankees hold the first wild card place.
Cashman provided updates on the progress of injured sluggers Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez.
Outfielder Aaron Judge has been on the disabled list since Jul. 27 due to a fractured wrist. The 26-year-old was hit by a pitch in a Jul. 26 game against the Kansas City Royals.
"We repeated an MRI the other to get a status," Cashman said. "It's taking longer. Normally, we underpromise/overperform where we give an extended round. We thought maybe three weeks would cover it. But it's going to be longer than that. So, we missed on the timeframe. We've repeated the MRI just to be certain that there's nothing new or nothing missed. Everything is as expected. They gave him a cortisone shot to alleviate the pain. So, he was down yesterday. Today, depending on how he feels, he could start potentially progressing."
Judge is batting .285 with 26 home runs and 61 RBI through 99 games.
Sanchez has participated in batting cage sessions and catching drills in Tampa. The 25-year-old catcher has been on the disabled list since Jul. 24 due to a right groin strain.
"He's taking the strides necessary," Cashman said. "He's pain-free. We're shooting probably for maybe around Aug. 24 for a rehab assignment."
Sanchez is batting .188 with 14 home runs and 42 RBI through 66 games.
Cashman expects Justus Sheffield to receive a call-up at some point in the season. Luis Cessa previously made a spot start in CC Sabathia's place.
"You'll see him here pitching for New York -- whether it's as a rotation guy or out of the bullpen at some point, I would expect in 2018."
Sheffield is 5-3 with a 2.16 ERA through 15 Triple-A games.
