The Yankees have been widely criticized for not finding enough at-bats for Luke Voit, but now, last year’s major league home run leader may not get another at-bat this season.
Aaron Boone told Carton and Roberts on Thursday that Voit has been placed on the IL with a knee injury after he came up lame running to first following a dropped third strike in Wednesday’s loss to the Blue Jays.
“Voit is on the IL with the knee,” Boone said. “We’ll get tests done when we get back to New York tomorrow and see what he’s dealing with. Probably a bone bruise type thing, but he was in a good amount of pain today and limping around pretty good.”
Voit has struggled with injuries all season, starting the year on the IL with a meniscus tear, then suffered a strained oblique and then a bone bruise in his knee. This is his fourth IL stint this year, though he had been healthy for nearly two months. But with the acquisition of Anthony Rizzo, Voit’s playing time greatly decreased, and Wednesday’s strikeout that resulted in the injury was his first at-bat in a week.
Voit hits the IL with a .239 batting average, .764 OPS and 11 home runs in just 241 plate appearances.
On the brighter side, Joey Gallo came out clean through testing on his forearm after being hit by a pitch on Wednesday night. Gallo didn’t hit in the ninth inning after being plunked in the seventh, but he is available off the bench on Thursday.
“Gallo is doing a lot better today,” Boone said. “He went through his pregame and cage work and everything and was pretty good. He’s not in the lineup tonight, but I do view him as an available player.”
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Boone said his decision to sit Gallo isn’t only due to the Yanks facing the lefty Robbie Ray, but he felt once the hit by pitch occurred that it would be best to give him a night off, at least from the starting lineup.
It could also be a chance to readjust, as Gallo has just three hits in his last 28 at-bats.
“I pretty much last night when he went for X-rays and the CT scan, I kind of viewed him as being down today, at least from a starting standpoint, especially with a lefty going, but was pretty encouraged with what we’ve seen over the last couple hours with him,” Boone said. “Hopefully this is something that benefits him and gets him a day, and could play an important role off the bench for us, but hopefully it’s something with a quick little reset, and when he gets it going he can be super impactful.”
Jameson Taillon, who left Tuesday’s start after aggravating his ankle, had his MRI in New York and didn’t further injure the knee, so a potential return this season is still on the table.
“It’s really unchanged,” Boone said. “He didn’t hurt it any more. It’s not necessarily any better, so we’ll make a decision there pretty soon on how we want to go moving forward with him.”
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