Yankees infielder Oswald Peraza shut down for six to eight weeks with shoulder strain
Yankees shortstop Oswald Peraza fields a hit by the Rays' Raimel Tapia during the second inning of a spring training game Wednesday in Tampa, Fla. Credit: AP/Charlie Neibergall
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Two days of tests showed that Yankees infielder Oswald Peraza has a subscapularis strain in his right shoulder and will need to be shut down from throwing for six to eight weeks, manager Aaron Boone announced on Saturday.
Peraza, 23, was facing an increasingly uphill battle to make the Opening Day roster after missing time with the injury, the effects of which he felt when throwing.
“There’s certain things I can’t control," Peraza said through an interpreter. "Things out of my reach that might happen, unfortunately. I’m really devastated about it.”
The team tried resting Peraza after he made his spring training debut on Feb. 25. He returned to action on Tuesday and also played Wednesday, but the pain returned and Peraza was sent first for an MRI and then a dye-imaging test.
“You certainly never want anyone to get hurt,” Boone said. “But it's also part of it. In some ways it was OK news in that the capsule and everything was OK. So seems like it is just going to be this shutdown period here. That's obviously going to cost him some season, but still there's a lot in front of him in this season. So get him right, get him well and get him rolling.”
Peraza has had a rough calendar year since he lost the shortstop job to Anthony Volpe last spring training. Peraza spent most of the season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and hit .191 in 173 at-bats in the majors.
Even if healthy, Peraza might have been ticketed for Triple-A again this season so he could play every day rather than serve in a bench role in the majors. But because of the injury, which he said he felt before his first spring training game, he never had a shot to win a job.
“I think last year, on the whole, was a little bit of a down year for Oswald, all around,” Boone said. “He's so capable on both sides of the ball. We have really high expectations for what we expect from him. Last year just overall wasn’t a great season for him.”
Said Peraza: “I wanted to, of course, make the team, even if it’s on the bench, or starting. Unfortunately, there are some things I might not be able to control. This is one of them. I’m going to fight my way back to getting back to my normal state.”
Peraza is always linked with his pal Oswaldo Cabrera, who might be blowing his chance to make the team as a utilityman with a 1-for-23 showing in spring training. Cabrera went 0-for-2 with a walk on Saturday.
Asked if he is concerned with Cabrera’s hitting, Boone said: “A little bit. We want to get him going . . . The potential is there for him, as we've seen even in the big leagues at times. He can be such a valuable, valuable player for us. But we’ve got to get the bat going.”
Cabrera, who can play all over the diamond, started at first base on Saturday. His struggles and Peraza’s injury make it more likely that the Yankees will look outside the organization for utility help before the March 28 opener. They already have made free-agent offers to Enrique Hernandez (who signed with the Dodgers) and Amed Rosario (who signed with the Rays).
Non-roster players Kevin Smith and Josh VanMeter are in the mix for roster spots. Smith, 27, is a shortstop by trade with a career .173 batting average in three seasons with Toronto and Oakland. He is batting .222 in spring training.
VanMeter, 28, can play the infield and outfield. He’s a .206 career hitter in 300 big-league games with the Reds, Diamondbacks and Pirates. The lefthanded batter played third base on Saturday and went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer. It was his first hit of spring training in his 17th at-bat.
With David Lennon in Tampa, Fla.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
