Yankees place Fernando Cruz on IL in latest bullpen blow
The Yankees are sending one of their top relievers back to the IL.
The team announced Monday afternoon that Fernando Cruz has been placed on the 15-day IL with an oblique strain, the second time the righty has been shelved with an injury this season.
Cruz will likely miss some time given the trickiness with oblique injuries, and it comes at a time where the bullpen was getting healthy again with the return of Luke Weaver, who was previously out with a hamstring strain.
Cruz has pitched to an even 3.00 ERA this season, striking out an impressive 54 batters in 33 innings of work, the second straight season in which he has held a strikeouts per nine rate of 14.7. Cruz had been relatively healthy with the Reds in his last two seasons, but this year has been a struggle in that regard. He missed time earlier in the year with a shoulder injury suffered on May 22.
In a corresponding move, the Yanks signed righty Geoff Hartlieb to a big-league contract and added him to the active roster. He has not pitched in the majors this season, and only logged nine innings with the Rockies last year, surrendering 10 runs on 13 hits in that span.
