Yankees injury updates: Gary Sanchez close to playing in minor league games

The Yankees have had a lot of key players miss significant time due to injuries this year. There’s no question that the lineup has been suffering without Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge over the past few weeks, but are they close to returning? Here’s the latest on all the Yankees who are dealing with injuries.

Aaron Judge

The good news is that Judge has progressed to playing catch. The bad news is that he reported that his wrist was “painful” following Friday’s throwing session. He has yet to start taking dry swings, and the Yankees won’t let him do so until he isn’t feeling pain. Obviously that’s the best course of action, and there’s no point in rushing him back if he isn’t healthy. Unfortunately, it sounds like he is further away than we’d like.

Gary Sanchez

Sanchez joined the team in New York to continue his rehab, and has been making good progress. On Friday, he threw to the bases out of a crouched position for the first time since being placed on the disabled list for the second time. An MRI revealed that his groin strain is healing, and Sanchez is expected to return to Tampa today to continue rehabbing. If he doesn’t experience any setbacks, Sanchez will likely get into some Gulf Coast League games sometime this week. He remains on track to join the team towards the end of August or early September.

Austin Romine

The Yankees backup catcher took a foul ball off his face mask during yesterday’s game, and ended up having to exit in the sixth inning. At one point, the home plate ump was holding Romine up by the armpits to keep him from falling to the ground. After the game, Aaron Boone stated that he seemed “fine,” but he won’t play today, and they will continue to monitor him for any concussion symptoms. The catcher depth without both Sanchez and Romine is...bad, so hopefully he is okay.

Jonathan Loaisiga

After just four starts in the majors, the right-hander was sent back to the minors. Not long after that, the team announced that he was dealing with shoulder inflammation. He received a cortisone shot and was shut down for three weeks. The Yankees really needed pitching help during that time, and were forced to turn to Chance Adams and Luis Cessa instead. The good news is that Loaisiga was activated from the 7-day disabled list and made his first start with Trenton on Friday night. He walked two batters and allowed one run to score during 1.1 innings of work. If he gets back on track, he could be a September call up.

CC Sabathia

The veteran was placed on the disabled list at the beginning of the week after letting the team know that it was in his best interest to give his knee a rest. He had that right knee drained on Monday, and threw his normal bullpen session on Friday. Sabathia is on track to return next weekend during the series against the Orioles.

Clint Frazier

It has been a rough season for Red Thunder. He originally missed months with concussion symptoms after slamming into an outfield wall during spring training. A month ago, he started suffering from post-concussion migraines. Frazier is reportedly still experiencing those symptoms and it is unknown when he might be able to start a rehab assignment.