YANKEE NOTES
One infielder in, another out. Just when the Yankees get back third baseman Scott Brosius from an injury, they may lose All-Star second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who hurt his left hand while taking warmup swings Sunday in Toronto.
Knoblauch was examined by team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon yesterday at Beth Israel North Hospital. An MRI, X-rays and a CAT-scan all came up
negative; he was diagnosed with a sprained left wrist and hand, and is listed as day-to-day. Manager Joe Torre expects Knoblauch to return for Friday night’s game against the Blue Jays, but the second baseman is even more optimistic.
“They [the tests] all looked good, so it’s gonna be one of those day-to-day things. Hopefully if not [today], then Wednesday at the latest,” Knoblauch said before being informed that Torre said he’d return after the Yanks’ off-day Thursday.
“Really? OK, scratch that,” Knoblauch said. “[But] I’m going to try to take batting practice [today] unless they say no.”
Brosius, coming back from a strained rib cage, went 1-for-4 yesterday to cap his minor-league rehab stint with the Gulf Coast Yanks. The club plans to activate him from the 15-day DL tonight.
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Top SS prospect Alfonso Soriano, promoted to fill in for Brosius at third, will likely return to the minors after excelling at the plate (three homers) and struggling in the field (he committed his fourth error yesterday).
“With Scott Brosius coming back, he has a little more experience. He needs to play every day, [so] I’ll go back to the minors. I think it was a good opportunity. I was happy to be able to play some,” Soriano said through a translator. “I don’t think [playing third was] difficult, but I need the experience and the time to make that adjustment. It’d be difficult to play shortstop for the Yankees, because Derek Jeter is here. I’ll do whatever is needed.”
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Paul O’Neill (1-for-4) singled in the sixth inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games.
The Yanks put lefty Allen Watson on the 15-day disabled list with a strained oblique muscle on his left side. To replace him, and add security with Andy Pettitte’s status still in question, they recalled lefty Ed Yarnall from Triple-A Columbus.
“They called me and told me to come up here,” said Yarnall. “That was in anticipation of Andy not being able to pitch. When Andy [can pitch] I’ll probably go back to the minors. All I know is [right now] I’m here in New York.”
Yarnall threw 60 pitches in his four-inning outing on Friday and seems to have rebounded from a horrid spring. He was 1-3 with a 22.18 ERA in the spring, but 1-0 with a 3.17 ERA at Columbus.
“There’s a chance he could stay,” Torre said. “He gives us a second left-hander in the pen.
