 Sheff has been on the disabled list for the past week after his April 29th collision with Toronto first baseman Shea Hillenbrand proved damaging to his left wrist. He played one full game and pinch-hit once since the accident, but that only irritated the wrist more. Sheff told Torre that playing hurt was counterintuitive at this point in his career, and was promptly placed on the 15-day DL. He is eligible to rejoin the team on May 21st, but may with the way he’s feeling now he could be out even longer than that. In his absence, the Yankees have called up 21-year-old Melky Cabrera from the minors to fill in the outfield. Melky’s brief experience in the majors last year was shaky, but there is no question that he has the talent to make it with the Yankees. He is  a rare left-throwing switch hitter, and was 47 for 122 (.385 average) with Columbus before being called up this year; his career AAA average is .323 (223 at-bats). So far this season Melky has only had a few chances to prove himself with the Yanks, but he has had 2 key hits and an RBI against the Red Sox, and although he made an error on a long fly to right field during game 1 of the series against the Sox, he has been solid defensively since then. Coming up in the Yankees’ system can’t be easy for anyone, but Melky seems to holding his own with the Bombers thus far. After Sheffield’s wrist heals Melky will be sent back to Columbus, but if he continues to impress in the meantime he’ll leave knowing he'll be Torre’s number 1 go-to kid for future outfield needs. Labels: injuries |
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Oh no, and now Matsui too. Not good.