Yankees place reliever Mark Leiter Jr. on the 15-day IL with stress fracture in left leg
Mark Leiter Jr. of the Yankees looks on against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium on May 22. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Yankees bullpen was already in a precarious spot with next week’s All-Star break and the July 31 trade deadline nearing.
On Tuesday, it lost one of its most used arms for the foreseeable future.
Before their series opener against the Mariners at the Stadium, the Yankees placed righthander Mark Leiter Jr. on the 15-day injured list with a left fibula head stress fracture. The team recalled righthander Clayton Beeter from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Leiter said the injury occurred during the Yankees' 5-4 loss in extra innings on June 24 in Cincinnati. He covered first on a grounder by the speedy Elly De La Cruz and “felt a little pop.”
“We thought it was my calf because it was responding as a calf,” Leiter told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “So I got a couple days off. It didn't really do me any good to tell anyone because then if they bumped against me or anything, I was a little limited. So got a couple days off. Trainers did a great job making me feel better.
“And it was definitely trending in a positive way. I was able to compete. I was able to feel like I had my legs under me, and it was getting better each day. And then on Saturday, warming up, felt it again, a little more. And Sunday really was – I felt compromised for the first time since it really happened.”
Leiter threw 16 pitches in two-thirds of an inning during Sunday’s 6-4 win over the Mets. He underwent testing on Monday and Tuesday and will be examined by a doctor Tuesday night.
Leiter said he is not sure yet regarding treatment, a timeline or if he will be able to continue throwing.
When asked if he feels the injury while walking, Leiter said: “Not really. It's more like a heavier impact, so like landing. So like catching my leg in my delivery, and like getting up and over my leg. Once it kind of took a little step back, that was where I felt compromised.”
Leiter (4-6) has made 41 appearances with two saves, a 4.46 ERA, 1.573 WHIP and 46 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings. He has thrown the seventh-most innings among Yankees pitchers and second most among relievers behind Tim Hill (40 1/3). Only Hill (42 appearances) has pitched in more games than Leiter.
“Yeah, obviously, not great,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Hopefully sounds worse. And hopefully – I know he's not going to throw for a couple days – but hopefully after that he can get up and throwing and start getting back.”
Following six days off after the injury was sustained, Leiter made four appearances. He allowed five hits and five runs (four earned), struck out two, walked two and hit a batter in 2 1/3 innings.
The bullpen has been without righthander Fernando Cruz, on the IL since June 30 with a left oblique strain. Righty Jake Cousins (Tommy John surgery) will not throw a pitch this season. Luke Weaver missed most of June with a left hamstring strain and has not been himself since returning, allowing eight earned runs and eight hits, including four home runs, in 5 1/3 innings.
The Yankees were already in the market for relievers with unproven righthanders JT Brubaker, Scott Effross and Geoff Hartlieb in Monday’s bullpen.
Jonathan Loaisiga (3.80 ERA) has also been shaky of late, posting a 4.60 ERA since June 1. Devin Williams (5.01 ERA) has also gone through his ups and downs, though he does have a 2.31 ERA since the start of June.
“It creates an opportunity for someone that not everyone's counting on or expecting necessarily to step up and secure and grab a role and make real contributions,” Boone said. “We see that every year with multiple teams in the bullpen. Certainly, we've had our share of that where guys a little under the radar or unknown have really established key roles. We need that to happen here as we kind of paddle through some struggles and some attrition.”
Notes & quotes: Cam Schlittler, the Yankees’ No. 10 prospect per MLB.com, will make his MLB debut Wednesday. The 6-6 righthander, the team’s seventh-round pick in 2022, has a 2.82 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 15 appearances (14 starts) between Double-A Somerset and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was at the Stadium on Tuesday as part of the taxi squad … Luis Gil (right lat strain) was expected to throw in Somerset on Tuesday. He will start his rehab assignment Sunday.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
More Yankees headlines
