Gio Urshela seems to have avoided the worst after injuring his hand on Tuesday in Anaheim.
The Yankees third baseman underwent an MRI exam that came back “okay,” manager Aaron Boone said Friday. Urshela fell into the hand after a home throw against the Angels.
“There’s not much, so it was encouraging,” Boone said.
Urshela still held its second consecutive game on Friday and held on “day to day”.
Before Friday’s game, Urshela turned the bat, played catch and caught on the ground. How he responds to that will determine if he could return to training as soon as Saturday against the Orioles.
A fall Gary Sanchez dropped to ninth place in the lineup on Friday, the first time in his career that he started a game in that position.
The catcher came in Friday batting .194 (7 vs. 36) with a home run in 10 games since returning from COVID-19 on Aug. 17, however. Its lack of production goes back even further. He was scoring just .176 with five homers and a .621 OPS in his last 38 games.
“Since he came back from COVID, he’s found his way a little offensively, he’s found his strength a little bit,” Boone said. “It was the eighth, the seventh. We have a great training. Someone has to hit everywhere. Trying to create some spacing. Today we have three lefties, so we’re just trying to create some spacing.
“I’m watching it while tonight we have a potential machine to smash into the new hole.”
Left-hander Jordan Montgomery, who missed nearly two weeks with COVID-19, said he “is starting to feel good again” as he prepares to return for the fourth outing on Saturday.
“He never really got tired of the last game,” Montgomery said. “The rest of the games I struggled to catch my breath sometimes or my heart rate went fast. It took me a while to get back there. ”
Boone said the Yankees could insert a sixth starter at some point in their seven-game home run, likely in the four-game series against the Blue Jays starting Monday.
The start could be for Luis Gil, the 23-year-old right-hander who failed to run in 15 innings / ₃ in three outings while replacing Gerrit Cole during his fight with COVID-19.
“That’s a real possibility,” Boone said.
RHP Domingo German threw a bullpen session on Friday as he continues to recover from the shoulder inflammation that has kept him on the injured list since Aug. 1.
The Yankees opted for OF Estevan Florial in Triple-A Scranton / Wilkes-Barre to make way for Gleyber Torres leaving the IL.