SEATTLE — Just as the Yankees were beginning to get healthier, Harrison Bader delivered another injury scare.
Bader left Monday’s game against the Mariners in the top of the third inning with right hamstring tightness after legging out an infield single during the Yankees’ 10-4 win at T-Mobile Park.
The center fielder will undergo an MRI on Tuesday to determine the extent of the injury and whether it will require a stint on the injured list.
“He just felt it pull on him a little bit,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ll see. [The training staff] doesn’t seem to think it’s too serious, but you don’t want to rule out an IL or whatever.”
Bader, who missed the first 30 games of the season with a strained oblique, was trying to stretch out the hamstring out while standing on first base after the single, which led to Boone and a trainer paying him a visit.
After a quick conversation, Bader walked off the field and was pinch-run for by Greg Allen.
Harrison Bader exits the Yankees-Mariners game with an apparent injury on May 29. Screengrab Bader, who has dealt with various injuries over the last three years, was 2-for-2 with a pair of singles, a stolen base and a run scored before leaving the game.
It marked the second straight game in which a key Yankee left early, after Anthony Rizzo exited Sunday’s game following a collision at first base with Fernando Tatis Jr.
Rizzo sat out Monday’s game with a stiff neck, though the Yankees are hopeful to get him back in the lineup on Tuesday.
“Should be fine,” Boone said before the game. “Just something we didn’t want to mess with too much. Head-wise, he’s fine. But he was stiff in his neck today. So he’ll get treatment.”
Harrison Bader exits the Yankees-Mariners game with an apparent injury on May 29. Screengrab
Harrison Bader legs out a single before exiting with an apparent injury during the Yankees-Mariners game on May 29. Screengrab
Isiah Kiner-Falefa drew his first start of the season at shortstop, with Anthony Volpe getting Monday off, and fielded all of his chances cleanly.
The Yankees had used Oswaldo Cabrera (twice) and Oswald Peraza (once) for Volpe’s three off days this season before Monday.
While Peraza is back at Triple-A, Boone said he considered using Cabrera at shortstop but instead had him at third base.
“Izzy’s going to have to play some short at some point anyways,” Boone said. “He’s played everywhere else seemingly, so it’ll be good to get him out there at short too.”
It’s possible that Cabrera could soon join Peraza at Triple-A when Josh Donaldson returns from the IL, giving more significance to getting Kiner-Falefa a start at shortstop.
Josh Donaldson (hamstring strain), Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring strain) and Tommy Kahnle (biceps tendinitis) are all set to make rehab appearances Tuesday with Double-A Somerset.
It could be the final game of Donaldson and Kahnle’s rehab assignments while it will mark the first of Stanton’s.
Gerrit Cole reached 10 years of major league service time Monday, a significant milestone for any player.
