CC Has Bone Spur Removed

From Andrew Marchand:

New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia had arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur in his left elbow on Thursday. The team announced he is expected to be ready for spring training.

Dr. James Andrews performed the surgery and the club said that no other problems were detected.

"They found a small bone spur," said Yankees GM Brian Cashman. "It was a quick and minor cleanup. We'll take him along slowly through spring training and he'll be ready for Opening Day.''

"Quick and minor" are always good things to hear about any kind of surgery.

Pineda Likely Out Until June or July

From Dayn Perry:

Pineda was initially expected back in spring training, however irrationally optimistic such a timetable was. Now, Yankees GM Brian Cashman says Pineda is not expected back until well into the 2013 season.

"We have to keep him off our radar for now," Cashman, appearing on Ian O'Connor's ESPN New York radio show, said of Pineda. "We're talking June of next year ... the second half of next year."

Some pitchers have been out for two seasons with this injury, so this is hardly unexpected.

CC Headed To See Dr. James Andrews

From George A. King III:

Previous MRI exams on CC Sabathia’s valuable left elbow have not discovered ligament damage that would necessitate Tommy John surgery.

However, the Yankees’ ace will visit noted surgeon Dr. James Andrews this week to get an explanation why his hinge has been inflamed between starts since August.

Because Sabathia has had a bone spur in the elbow since he pitched for the Indians (his last season in Cleveland was 2008), the 32-year-old might require an arthroscopic procedure to shave or remove the spur. Or he could be told to rest.

Since the ligament was clean on tests done in August, the Yankees don’t believe the inflammation is being caused by something that would require reconstructive surgery.

Of course, there always is the chance the spur grew and caused damage to the ligament. Whatever the case, pitchers don’t visit Andrews unless there is something wrong.

Sabathia spent two weeks on the disabled list in August with an inflamed elbow. Yesterday, talking outside of Yankee Stadium, Sabathia said the swelling surfaced following every start he made since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 24.

“A little bit because it’s something I have never felt before, never had a problem with the elbow,’’ Sabathia said of being concerned. “I felt it off and on in between starts. But I didn’t feel it on the field.’’

General manager Brian Cashman decided to send Sabathia to Andrews because he knew Sabathia never would complain about an injury following a poor postseason outing.

Luckily, it seems that this is just precautionary, and at worst he'll just have the bone spur removed. Still, any time Dr. Andrews is brought into the situation it gets a little scary.

Jeter Fractures Ankle, Done for Postseason

Girardi on the injury:

Jeter Day-To-Day With Bone Bruise

From Mark Hale:

There is a major question about Derek Jeter’s health right now.

In the third inning of the Yankees’ 3-2, 12-inning victory over the Orioles last night, Jeter, who has been battling a late season, left-ankle bone bruise, fouled a ball off his left foot. Jeter was badly limping and hobbling during the game, an alarming development. It became more alarming for the Yankees as he exited the game for defense before the ninth inning.

Jeter was replaced by Jayson Nix, and there’s a chance the Yankees will have to use Nix at shortstop tonight while using Jeter as DH. After the game, manager Joe Girardi said he wasn’t sure if Jeter will play tonight.

Girardi also mentioned in the post game that it's a bone bruise on the top of his foot that he got by fouling a ball off his foot early in game 3. He's day-to-day, but Jeter, as always, played the injury down and said he expects to play on Thursday.

Here's Jeter's post game:

Banuelos To Have Tommy John Surgery

Teixeira Expected Back Tonight

From Chad Jennings:

The Yankees expect Mark Teixeira to be in the lineup and playing first base tomorrow. After playing in an instructional league game yesterday, Teixeira will go through a normal workout today and rejoin the Yankees when they get home for this final three-game series against the Red Sox.

It will be Teixeira’s first game since aggravating his strained calf injury on September 8, and only his second game since originally hurting himself on August 27. His injury through the month of September, and Alex Rodriguez’s injury through the month of August means it’s been a long time since the Yankees have consistently had two of their middle-of-the-order bats in the lineup at the same time.

“Obviously two middle-of-the-order hitters, number one,” Girardi said. “But two, it gives you the ability not to stack left handers, which is something that we’ve had to fight and at times we’ve been vulnerable to that. It seemed like everyone was throwing left handers against us, and Tex is a huge bat against left handers. It’s affected us.”

The Yankees face two right handers (Buchholz and Matsuzaka) and one lefty (Lester) in this final series against the Red Sox.

Besides the injury to Mariano, everyone else is now back in the fold so finally, after several months of dealing with various players going down, the Yankees are pretty much at full strength. Hallelujah!

Teixeira Played in Simulated Game on Thursday

From George King:

Because running is considered the biggest test for a lcalf problem, the news was positive Thursday out of Tampa where Mark Teixeira participated in a simulated game.

“He looked good, he ran about 75 to 80 percent,” said minor league head Mark Newman, who watched the workout. “He swung the bat well, hit some line drives.’’

According to manager Joe Girardi, Teixeira played an inning at first base but running will dictate when he returns.

“To me, the biggest test is running the bases,’’ Girardi said before the Yankees' 6-0 loss to the Blue Jays. “I think he can protect it a little bit in the field if he has to. Sometimes you get in a situation like he was in Baltimore and your mind tells you, ‘I got to go.’ ”

...

Girardi said Teixeira would play in another simulated game but wasn’t sure if it would be Friday or Saturday. While it’s likely he could join the Yankees during the four-game series against the Blue Jays, it’s more likely he will be back with the club Monday when the Yankees open a three-game series with the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

”You would like to know that he is 100 percent,’’ Girardi said. “But I don’t think you are going to know until you get into an intense situation.’’

I wouldn't push things, especially with those games on the Tampa turf coming up. Save him for the Boston series and hope those three games are enough to get his timing back.

Girardi Says Gardner Will Be Activated.... Eventually

From George King:

The Yankees still haven’t activated Brett Gardner, who had right elbow surgery but is a candidate to work as a pinch runner and possibly a defensive replacement. The Yankees need to clear a 40-man roster spot for the outfielder.

“It’s going to happen. I just can’t tell you exactly what day,” Girardi said. “We’re just not quite ready to make the move yet.”

Pettitte Will Start Tuesday vs Toronto

From Wallace Matthews.

Joe Girardi just announced Andy Pettitte would return to the Yankees' rotation for the first time in more than two months on Tuesday against the Blue Jays.

Matthews also reports that David Phelps will move to the bullpen.

“I’m looking forward to being back and trying to help this club do what we want to do, and that’s get to the postseason,” Pettitte said.

We're looking forward to it, too.

Jeter: "I'm Playing"

From Dan Martin:

Derek Jeter called the bone bruise in his left ankle a “non-issue” last week at Tampa Bay.

That’s more difficult to believe now since he was forced to leave last night’s 5-4 win over the Red Sox after aggravating the injury in the eighth inning.

Still, the shortstop said he would be back in the lineup tonight at Fenway Park.

“I don’t talk about injuries,” Jeter said. “I’m playing, so it’s not an issue."

...

“It’s really not that bad,” Jeter said. “I told them I was all right, but we had some extra guys. … I told them I was fine, but they told me to put ice on it. That was basically the extent of the conversation.”

If it was any other player I'd expect them to at least miss a few games, but it's Jeter, and I think we've all watched enough of this guy's career to trust what he says.

Jeter Leaves Games With An Ankle Injury

From ESPN NY:

Of all the unthinkable events that could befall the Yankees in this final stretch run, an injury to Derek Jeter is probably the most unthinkable of all.

And yet, it happened in the eighth inning of tonight's game against the Red Sox when Jeter came up lame after grounding into an inning-ending double play.

Jeter had rolled the ankle last week in Tampa but continued to play on it, but after hobbling into the outfield -- he appeared to injure himself on the step after he crossed the bag -- Jeter agreed to leave the game after a brief conversation with Joe Girardi and head trainer Steve Donohue.

Jeter hasn't looked good running the bases in a while, so it would appear that whatever he had been nursing just got much worse. Hopefully he doesn't have to miss that much time. We all know how important he's been to the team this year, and losing him could be devastating.

Tex Out 10-14 With Calf Injury, Yanks Call Up Melky Mesa

Teixeira Headed for MRI on Monday

From Bryan Hoch:

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira is scheduled to have a MRI on his ailing left calf Monday in New York and probably won’t be available to play in this week’s series against the Red Sox, manager Joe Girardi said.

Teixeira reaggravated his calf strain on the ninth-inning dive into first base on Saturday against the Orioles. The Yankees are hopeful that Teixeira isn’t back to the original level of injury and that a few days of rest might get him back into the lineup, but they’ll know more after the MRI.

Girardi admitted that there is concern that Teixeira could be out for the rest of the season.

“There’s part of me that wonders that,” Girardi said. “There’s basically three and a half weeks, and if it does go back to square one, then I really wonder.”

At this point I'm really starting to believe that all these injuries will just be too much for this team to overcome. I hope I'm wrong, but nothing that has happened since the All-Star break gives me much confidence.

Injury Updates: Tex, Pettitte, Nova

- To make that blown call on the final play of last night's game worse, Mark Teixeira re-injured his left calf and will likely miss Sunday's series finale against the O's.

- In better news, Andy Pettitte threw a simulated game on Saturday and apparently everything went smoothly. Here's a little more on Pettitte from Dan Martin:

“I felt good, it was a good day,” Pettitte said after the session. “It was another step in the right direction. I am trying to push it as far as I can with feeling a chance of injury.”

Pettitte is expected to have the ankle examined tomorrow in New York and could be cleared to run, which is one of the final hurdles he must clear before he rejoins a beaten-up rotation.

Barring a setback, the lefty would be able to field bunts and cover first base the next time he takes the mound, which should be in Boston this week. That session should last roughly 60 pitches and may be his final rehab appearance

- Ivan Nova came off the DL last night and instead of being inserted into the rotation the Yankees decided to to put him in the bullpen.

“He is in the bullpen for now. Our bullpen has been used a lot,’’ said Joe Girardi, who as of Friday had not made a decision on who would start today. “We will put him down there for now and then we will make some decisions.’’

Asked if Nova was a candidate to take David Phelps’ start Wednesday in Boston, Girardi danced.

“We are not that far ahead,’’ Girardi said. “With these tricky weather conditions, I am not sure what we are going to need.’’

But at some point, Nova is going to start.

“We have always considered him a rotation guy,’’ Girardi said. “He is not a guy who has pitched out of the bullpen a lot. Our concern was to get him back healthy.” I had the rotation set — that’s Freddy. We didn’t know what we were going to have in Nova.’

Personally, I'd much rather see Nova get back into the rotation over Freddy, but the Yankees seem to like to make bad moves all of a sudden.

Updates on Tex & Granderson

From Pete Caldera:

Mark Teixeira (sore left calf) was due to take BP on the field for the first time in a week and said he’s targeting Thursday’s series opener at Baltimore for his return.

Curtis Granderson (tight right hamstring) could be in the lineup tomorrow night, according to manager Joe Girardi.

With the lead down to one, it's pretty obvious that all these injuries finally caught up with the team. Getting these guys back should help, but with the way they've been playing (with or without them) let's just hope it's not too little too late.

Cano Questionable For Tomorrow's Game With Hip Injury

From Mark Feinsand:

Robinson Cano felt his left hip grab at him during the decisive play in Monday’s game, leaving the second baseman questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Rays.

Cano said his hip “felt a little tight” as he tried to make a play on Chris Gimenez’s grounder through the hole, impeding his ability to bend over for the ball. He was seen wearing a big ice pack on his hip after the game, as he spent an extended amount of time in the trainer’s room.

“Right when I tried to bend, my left foot just came straight up and I felt my hip,” Cano said. “It’s tight right now. Hopefully nothing bad or anything.”

Cano said he was a little worried about the injury, though he was hopeful that he would be back in the lineup Tuesday.

“It was grabbing; I didn’t hear anything pop, thank God,” Cano said. “We’ll see what happens tomorrow.”

With the way this team is pissing away the division another injury might just be the straw that broke the camels back. But like I say in all these all too frequent injury updates, let's hope it's nothing serious.

A-Rod Could Make His Return In Tampa

From George King:

If Alex Rodriguez makes it through today’s game for the Single-A Tampa Yankees without a setback, look for the third baseman to come off the disabled list tomorrow and play against the Rays.

“It’s definitely a possibility he could join us in St. Petersburg,’’ Joe Girardi said after the Yankees’ 4-3 victory over the Orioles yesterday at the Stadium.

Rodriguez, who played third base last night, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts in his two games with Tampa. He handled his only chance at third when he fielded a soft grounder.

Rodriguez played in the field for the first time last night since July 24.

Granderson's MRI Shows No Strain, Sprain or Pulled Muscle

From George King:

Used to hearing bad news when a player heads for an MRI exam, the Yankees received a positive report Saturday about Curtis Granderson’s right hamstring.

Granderson left Saturday’s 4-3 victory over the Orioles after two innings for what was called a tight right hamstring. The test revealed no strain, sprain or pulled muscle.

“They said it was tendinitis where the bone and joint come together,’’ said Granderson, who felt the leg on the run from the dugout to center field at the start of the game.

King also reported that while Girardi was relieved with the news, he doesn't think Granderson will play on Sunday. The next three games will be in Tampa, on turf, so there's probably a good chance he misses at least a couple of those as well.

Granderson Left Today's Game With a Tight Hamstring

Curtis Granderson was forced to leave Saturday’s game against the Orioles due to tightness in his right hamstring. The injury seemed to occur when Grandy struck up in the 2nd on a checked swing. He's now headed to the hospital for a precautionary MRI.

Let's hope it's nothing serious and he doesn't miss any games. The Yankees haven't been playing too well (as you know) and they really can't afford another injury, even with the expanded rosters.