Yankees place reliever Michael King on IL, await Miguel Andujar's MRI results
Yankees starting pitcher Michael King stands on the mound against the Angels during the fifth inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on June 28. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
SEATTLE – The Yankees’ injuries continue to mount.
The club disclosed two more players who are banged up, announcing before Thursday’s 4-0 loss to the Mariners that righthander Michael King had been placed on the IL with "a right middle finger contusion," and that they were awaiting word of X-rays and an MRI taken of Miguel Andujar’s sore left hand and wrist.
Aaron Boone said in the case of Andujar, who has been getting most of the reps in leftfield of late, the discomfort could be traced back to the player’s final at-bat in Tuesday’s 12-1 victory.
Andujar is hitting .253 with six homers and a .667 OPS in 45 games.
King, after a rough start to the season, has appeared to settle into the swing-man role the Yankees have used him in, posting a 3.72 ERA in 14 games (six starts). King would have been a candidate to start Friday’s series opener in Houston. Boone said after Thursday’s game that righty Nestor Cortes Jr. will be the starter.
"A couple of days ago, in some of his weight training, he kind of jammed his finger in between a couple of weights, kind of a freak accident [and] it swelled up on him," Boone said of King. "He had X-rays yesterday, it was negative. A lot of the swelling’s out of there, it’s not broken, but he won’t be able to pitch this week. Hopefully, it’s not something that keeps him down too long."
Tyler Wade was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take King’s roster spot for now.
Last Friday the Yankees put outfielder Clint Frazier on the IL with vertigo – he’s been undergoing additional testing for the better part of a week that, to this point, hasn’t shed much more light on his situation. On Tuesday, reliever Darren O’Day was put on the IL with what Boone said a day later likely was a "significant" left hamstring injury.
