The Yankees may indeed now be in the market for some bench help, as infielder Oswald Peraza has been shut down for six-to-eight weeks with a subscapularis muscle strain in his right shoulder.
“It’s obviously going to cost him some season, but still there's a lot in front of him in this season,” manager Aaron Boone said Saturday. “So, we’ll get him right, get him well and get him rolling.”
Peraza reported tightness in the shoulder two weeks ago that kept him out of the lineup until this week, but when the issue returned after playing Tuesday and Wednesday, the Yankees sent him for an MRI and a dye-contrast arthrogram, which showed the strain but nothing that may require surgery.
"I think why they went deeper and looked a second day with the arthrogram was just to make sure certain things weren't compromised or in a bad spot," Boone said. "So it sounds like a six- to eight-week thing and then hopefully we'll be in a good spot moving forward."
Peraza, who hit .191 in 52 games last season, was a favorite to win a bench role as a utility infielder but his injury opens the door potentially to lock Oswaldo Cabrera into the same super-sub role he held in 2023 if they do not seek an external option.
The Yankees’ best internal option besides Cabrera to be a backup SS may be non-roster invitee Kevin Smith, who has 285 MLB innings at shortstop. Otherwise, Jorbit Vivas, who has never played in the Majors, has the only other shortstop experience on the 40-man roster (just three career minor-league innings), and fellow non-roster invitee Jeter Downs has extensive SS experience but just 20 MLB games and 26 innings at SS in those games under his belt.
There is always the possibility the Yankees add a veteran free agent, as they did with Marwin Gonzalez in 2022, or wait to see if any vets in camp with other teams on minor-league deals come available on pre-Opening Day opt-outs – and if they go the non-roster route, Peraza does have a minor-league option remaining, so he can go to Triple-A once healthy.