Yankees coach Luis Rojas saddened by Edwin Diaz's injury
Edwin Diaz of Puerto Rico is carried off the field after sustaining an injury while celebrating a 5-2 win against the Dominican Republic during their World Baseball Classic Pool D game at loanDepot park on Wednesday in Miami, Fla. Credit: Getty Images/Al Bello
LAKELAND, Fla. — Aaron Boone called the knee injury Edwin Diaz suffered in the World Baseball Classic “awful” and Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said “I feel bad for the Mets” after they lost their closer for the season.
But no one with the Yankees felt worse than third-base coach Luis Rojas, who managed Diaz with the Mets in 2020 and 2021.
“Sad news,” Rojas said before Friday afternoon’s 8-7 loss to the Tigers. “I was really concerned when I saw it. Yesterday when the news broke of what it was . . . definitely something you don’t want to hear. The WBC is a great tournament where players want to represent their countries and they have fun . . . but you don’t want to see that. It was something that you felt like prayers were immediate. I think everyone felt the same way. I wish to connect with him soon just to let him know we’re thinking of him and we’re praying for his quick recovery.”
One of those days
Domingo German, a lock to make the rotation out of camp barring injury, was shelled Friday to the tune of seven runs and nine hits, including four homers, in 2 2/3 innings.
“Location-wise, I missed a lot today with my pitches,” said German, who had a 3.52 ERA in his previous three starts. “They were on it. Credit to them . . . trying to work on the fastball today, to use my fastball up, down and away, to get ahead in the count and finish guys. But when you miss location trying to work on a pitch or a set of sequences, you’re definitely not going to get the result you want. But you have to understand where we are [in spring training]. After the outing, feeling good is really important . . . so I feel strong and healthy.”
Peraza OK
Oswald Peraza, who started at second, was hit by an 80-mph curveball in the fifth inning by lefty Joey Wentz but stayed in the game after being checked by Boone and a trainer. Peraza went 1-for-3 with a double. Anthony Volpe, who started at short, went 0-for-4.
