One of the Yankees’ strengths — their bullpen — took a significant hit Saturday. Before the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park, they placed left-handed relievers Zack Britton and Wandy Peralta on the 10-day injured list.
For Britton, it’s another setback in what has so far been a lost year. He didn’t make his regular-season debut until June 12 after having surgery during spring training to remove bone chips from his left throwing elbow. Now, he’s on the shelf again, this time with a left hamstring strain. Peralta, meanwhile, had been a pleasant surprise until a recent shaky outing, but now his season is on hold, too, due to a lower back strain. He hasn’t pitched in more than a week because of the ailment.
“Based on what we saw [Friday] night, I feel like the news is better than we thought,” Boone said, referring to Britton. “But we just thought, especially with him coming back, it’s not something we want to push through and risk something else popping up.
Wandy Peralta and Zack Britton Getty Images, Bill Kostroun“I think we erred on the side of caution here. Obviously, we know what he means to our bullpen, the back end of that bullpen. Not the best thing, but hopefully something that’s a short stint for him.”
Before the game, Britton did some stretching on the field.
“It seems like today was a better day than maybe I would have expected, but I don’t want to mislead anybody either,” general manager. Brian Cashman said. “It didn’t look good yesterday. And today, although he was doing some functional stuff, some stretching and it looked good from that, that’s not playing. We’ll get a real-deal feel for the time frame from that MRI, when he’s back in New York.”
Britton suffered the injury after a pitch on Friday night. Boone wouldn’t call it a serious injury, but there was enough discomfort to put Britton on the IL. He had allowed runs in his previous two outings.
“I really felt like [Friday] night, watching him against those first couple of hitters, I was thinking to myself, ‘This is looking like ‘Britt’ to me,’ ” Boone said. “This is the best I felt he has looked. So it’s a little bit of a frustrating thing.”
Boone expressed hope both relievers would need just minor stints on the IL. The Yankees also hope to get Justin Wilson and Darren O’Day back during their next homestand, which begins Monday. For the time being, however, the bullpen will have to make do.“The reality is it creates an opportunity for someone else to step up,” Boone said.
The Yankees called up Albert Abreu and Brooks Kriske on Saturday to fill in for Britton and Peralta. Abreu came on in relief of Jordan Montgomery on Saturday and allowed one earned run over two innings while striking out one. Kriske has struggled at the big league level this year, giving up five earned runs in four innings.
— Additional reporting by Ken Davidoff
