Yankees place Aroldis Chapman on IL with leg infection

In surprising news, the Yankees have reportedly placed left-handed relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman on the 15-day IL with a leg infection. It’s being reported that the infection was caused by a tattoo he recently received.

That’s an odd injury, but at least it isn’t related to his arm or shoulder, or anything muscular. The wisdom of getting a tattoo in the middle of an athletic season is questionable, though.

Of course, Chapman has not getting very many innings recently anyway, as his struggles have returned in full force after a few dominant outings. According to Aaron Boone that was partly because of the infection, but he hasn’t exactly been earning high leverage spots with his performance either.

Chapman last pitched on August 19th against Toronto, when he gave up two walks and a hit in only a third of an inning pitched, and took the loss. He looked awful in his last appearance before that too, on August 17th. You could almost think this was a phantom IL stint if the cause wasn’t too weird to be true.

According to Aaron Boone, the team won’t be making a roster move to replace Chapman until Monday, when they plan to activate Clay Holmes. While Chapman wasn’t going to be pitching in any close games (hopefully), that further thins out a bullpen that’s already seen a lot of recent turnover.

Chapman is expected to be able to return at some point this season.