Kevin Youkilis DL stint brings the Yankees one step closer to depth chart panic

Kevin Youkilis is down again. This seems to be his M.O. in 2013; get hurt, sit around until he's deemed healthy, he's thrown out on the field, struggles, slides into first base, and goes back on the shelf. It's not like he was helping the team much when he went on the disabled list again after he could only manage .135/.238/.216 in June, but after a .266/.347/.422 line in April, he was supposed to offer more help than this.

What his injury does mean is that the Yankees now have to move down the depth chart and sufficiently weaken the roster. David Adams will be the starting third baseman, at least against lefties, since he's hit .159/.178/.318 against right-handers this season. He has hit lefties well with a .320/.346/.400 batting line, but he's only hit .190/.203/.310 in the last month.

If Jayson Nix slides over to third base against righties, they would have a .223/.260/.298 hitter at the hot corner, but it would also mean that Reid Brignac, who only hits .235/.270/.338 against righties, gets a lot more starts at shortstop.

The Yankees essentially don't have a quality third baseman to face right-handers and that is a problem.

If anyone gets hurt there is Ronnier Mustelier, Josh Bell, and maybe Corban Joseph. We're starting to get into scary territory and people say we don't need Alex Rodriguez, yet we're another day closer to acquiring Michael Young...