Yankees reliever Jonathan Loaisiga placed on IL with right rotator cuff strain
Yankees starting pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga reacts during the eighth inning against the Royals June 22 at Yankee Stadium. Credit: AP/Kathy Willens
Jonathan Loaisiga, the Yankees' most consistent bullpen arm all season, is on the injured list, and his return for 2021 is anything but a certainty.
Loaisiga, the hard-throwing righthander who has blossomed this season and become one of Aaron Boone’s most trusted high-leverage options, was placed on the IL Sunday morning with a right rotator cuff strain.
"Obviously, that’s a tough loss for us, which hopefully is only a couple of weeks," Boone said. "But still something we’ll have to navigate."
Boone said Loaisiga, who is 9-4 with a 2.25 ERA in 54 games, won’t throw "for at least 10 days" and then will be reevaluated. He said Loaisiga received a cortisone shot Saturday.
"Hopefully it’s something that’s a little bit of a timeout and we get him back for the stretch drive," Boone said.
Boone said Loaisiga, who allowed a run and a hit in 1 1/3 innings Friday night, arrived at the ballpark Saturday feeling "a little sore."
As just about every reliever in the Yankees' bullpen has experienced his share of difficulties this season — everyone from Aroldis Chapman to Chad Green to Zack Britton, who is out for the year — Loaisiga has been the one constant. Boone was as comfortable using him in a tough spot in the middle innings as he was in the late innings, including the ninth. He has struck out 66 and walked 15 in 68 innings and was 5-for-9 in save opportunities.
"He’s been one of the best relievers in all of baseball," said Jameson Taillon, who will start Monday afternoon against Toronto. "He’s pitched in so many different scenarios for us — he’s pitched [in] big jams in the middle of games, he’s closed games out . . . It definitely hurts, but at the same time, we’ve dealt with a lot this year. We’ve got a lot of pieces in that bullpen."
As a corresponding roster move, righty Albert Abreu was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Gio could be back Monday
Boone said the Yankees chose to go the "conservative" route Sunday with Gio Urshela in holding him out for a fourth straight game with a sore left wrist.
"Almost [put him] in the lineup today, but just felt one more day would benefit him," Boone said. "He’s available off the bench today and expect to have him there tomorrow."
Urshela pinch hit in the eighth Sunday and lined to right.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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