Damon sidelined, DL stint possible

by anaconda on Apr 4, 2007 9:05 PM EDT in New York Yankees News

NEW YORK -- A day of rest and treatment did little to ease the concerns and pain of Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon, who said he could "barely walk" on Wednesday and was held out of the lineup for a rained-out contest against the Devil Rays.

Damon left the Yankees' Opening Day game after five innings on Monday, suffering from what were originally described as cramps. General manager Brian Cashman amended that diagnosis Wednesday to reflect a calf strain of an unknown degree.

"It's more than cramps," Damon said. "It felt like cramps [Monday], but I've got to go in and figure it out, [and] make sure it's something that could heal as I continue playing.
"I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but I've really got to get it taken care of right now."

Damon spent about an hour on the trainer's table on Wednesday before the scheduled afternoon contest was washed out. The Yankees did not plan to send Damon for tests on Wednesday, though Cashman said it would be a possibility Thursday if Damon does not show improvement.

"The fact that he's still sore today would eliminate the word 'cramp,'" Cashman said. "He's probably got a little strain we're dealing with now."

This is purely speculation on my part but I don't anticipate his injury is serious enough to land him on the DL. Damon is a pretty tough guy and proved it last year when he played four months of the season with a broken bone in his foot.

On the contrary, since it is only April 4th -- it is certainly possible that the Yankees' medical staff could persuade Damon to sit for two weeks in order to make sure the calf injury doesn't linger all season.

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They should DL him

if he is going to be out a few days. It could be retroactive to the 2nd, which would make it a few days less at least. And when you mix in the off days it would be about 10 games missed (if I can count, which is debatable)

Or, they could send down Bruney if he has multiple options left (which I think he does) and call up Thompson.

But having just 3 legitimate outfielders on the roster for more than a game is pretty risky.

by matthaggs on Apr 4, 2007 11:16 PM EDT reply actions

Hm

Who's the CF backup, anyway? Matsui slides over and Cabrera plays the corner? That's going to hurt defensively.

by NBarnes on Apr 4, 2007 11:21 PM EDT reply actions

Huh?

Melky will play center.

Fear the Evil Empire

by pfistyunc on Apr 5, 2007 6:57 AM EDT up reply actions

How do the high tech

freaky statistics that I barely understand but take you guys word for rate Melky compared to Damon defence wise, and on a side note, where would I find information like that...

Losers always whine about their best. Winners go home and f*** the prom queen.

by Edwantsacracker on Apr 5, 2007 10:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Not a lot of ready available fielding stats

I like Dave Pinto's Probabilistic Model of Range as the most freely available one. Damon ranked 10th among MLB center fielders in that, though it includes players like Ryan Freel, Ichiro, Alfred Amezaga, and Shane Victorino, all of whom had under 2,000 balls in play while in center (while Damon and most regulars had well over 3,000).

Melky rated as MLB's top left fielder using this model.

River Ave. Blues
Yankees and their minor leagues. My last blogging stop, I promise.

by PinstripePowerhouse on Apr 5, 2007 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Interesting

Arod only came up 8 outs shy of expectations last year, so baring another throwing crisis, he still plays slightly above average defense. Hopefully the weight loss this season will help his balance.
Have you ever seen an the outfielder's expected outs including an adjustment for assists? I suspect that would make Melky and Abreu look even better (and Matsui worse).

We're reaching the point where you can either be a truly dedicated, state-of-the-art fan or you can have a life. Take your pick.

by jscape2000 on Apr 5, 2007 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions