Fansided

As injuries mount, not time to panic yet for Yankees

By Tre LyDay

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 20: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees is checked on by bench coach Josh Bard, trainer Steve Donohue and first base coach Reggie Willits #50 prior to leaving a game against the Kansas City Royals in the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium on April 20, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 20: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees is checked on by bench coach Josh Bard, trainer Steve Donohue and first base coach Reggie Willits #50 prior to leaving a game against the Kansas City Royals in the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium on April 20, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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The Yankees have a veritable All-Star team on the injured list, but it’s not time to worry about the Bronx Bombers just yet.

When’s the last time you’ve seen a team as beat up as the Yankees? They haven’t just suffered injuries, but they’ve suffered significant injuries to their most important players. The latest of those players being Aaron Judge, who was what felt like the last man standing among their big bats. Judge’s injury has been deemed significant, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be seeing the field anytime soon.

Luis Severino and Dellin Betances are recovering from shoulder injuries and haven’t pitched all season. Didi Gregorius and Ben Heller are recovering from Tommy John surgery and won’t be back until around the All-Star break.

You could make a legitimate case that the guys currently on the injured list for the Yankees is a better lineup than the active roster. That said, it’s not time to panic if you’re a Yankees fan.

The main reason it’s not time to panic is because its April 22. Divisions are not won in April, and even though they’re not won in April the Yankees have put themselves in a position to where they’re not fighting an uphill battle to get back into the race when guys start getting healthy.

Guys are already getting healthy as we speak. Gary Sanchez who’s been sidelined with a calf injury is projected to return to the lineup on Wednesday, and it looks like Giancarlo Stanton should rejoin the lineup the following week.

Aaron Hicks who has yet to play a game is close to heading out on a rehab assignment. His case is a little different since he had all of 10 at-bats in spring training. Hicks will have to spend a little extra time in the minors to get sufficient at-bats before he’s ready to play.

The team is hoping that Miguel Andujar can avoid surgery on his shoulder, and he can rejoin the lineup in the coming weeks as well. Even if he can’t play third the team has discussed playing him at first base to limit the amount of times he has to throw the ball.

The Yankees currently sit at 11-10 and two and a half games out of first place in the AL East. They’re heading on a west coast trip that will include games against the Los Angeles Angels, San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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If we guesstimate that they’ll have a bulk of their lineup back by June they’re schedule is really favorable. In the month of May they’ll seven games against the Baltimore Orioles, four games against the Seattle Mariners and their abysmal bullpen and they get six games against the Tampa Bay Rays who they are chasing in the division.

Once the bullpen rights the ship, specifically Chad Green and Jonathan Holder, and consistently gets outs it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Yankees could be in first place heading into June.

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