Nestor Cortes Jr. will start Friday’s series opener for the Yankees in Houston, in part because Michael King was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday due to a right middle finger contusion.
According to manager Aaron Boone, King’s injury was the result of “kind of a freak accident” during a weightlifting session earlier in the week.
“He jammed his finger between a couple weights, and it swelled up on him,” Boone said of King. “We didn’t have him throw yesterday and we were going to see how it felt today.”
X-rays taken Wednesday were negative, but King was unable to play catch without issue on Thursday, and with the Yankees headed into the All-Star break, the decision was made to deactivate King retroactive to Monday, which means he will be eligible to return when the Yankees return from the All-Star down time next Thursday.
“A lot of the swelling is out of there; it’s not broken, but he won’t be able to pitch this week,” Boone said. “Hopefully he won’t be down long.”
There was thought from Boone about possibly piggybacking King after Cortes for the TBA game on Friday, in part because of King’s effectiveness in relief – he has a 1.90 ERA as a reliever versus a 5.47 ERA as a starter this year, the latter including a 15.00 first-inning ERA.
King did throw four "scoreless" innings in relief last Saturday against the Mets (he came in with two on and let both runners score, but did not allow a run of his own), but instead, it will be Cortes, who threw 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball as a spot starter in Game 2 of the Yankees' Sunday doubleheader, that will get the nod.
Gerrit Cole will start Saturday and Jameson Taillon Sunday, but as Boone noted after Thursday’s loss, it doesn’t matter who is on the mound, the mission is clear in Houston.
“We’ve had some amazing battles there, and last time we were there, the ultimate heartbreak,” Boone said, “but we need to go play well. We need to try and win some ballgames to get ourselves in position to make a run out of the break.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
