Harrison Bader leaves game with hamstring tightness

The Harrison Bader Saga continues.

The Yankee center fielder wins accolades of every kind when he’s on the field, but has struggled to play a full season ever since debuting. He continues to struggle with that, being pulled from Monday’s contest in Seattle with an apparent leg injury.

Credit to Bader, his speed allowed him to beat out an infield single. After coming up lame following the run, though, Bader walked off the field under his own power, jogging down the dugout steps in what’s hopefully an optimistic sign. If nothing else, it appears this injury is not a continuation of the oblique problem that kept him on the IL through the season’s first five weeks.

Bader had been off to a tear since joining the MLB squad, with a 110 wRC+, six home runs and his typically excellent CF defense going a long way to lengthen a lineup that feels all too short some nights. That he should suffer an injury on the eve of Giancarlo Stanton beginning a rehab assignment only adds insult to the situation.

Greg Allen came in to replace Bader at first, only to be immediately picked off. Without Bader or Stanton for at least a couple more days, and the recently-released Aaron Hicks obviously unavailable, it seems Allen will get the lion’s share of center fielder work, and the 30-year-old will look to make an impact defensively and on the bases, with any punch from the plate being largely a bonus.

Update

Official word from the Yankees is that Bader suffered a hamstring injury. He will have an MRI tomorrow.