Yankees 3B Donaldson likely headed to IL

BALTIMORE — New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson likely will be headed to the injured list with a right hamstring injury, manager Aaron Boone said Friday afternoon.

Donaldson was removed in the second inning of Wednesday’s 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies with right hamstring tightness. And with the 2023 season just getting started, Boone said the Yankees will be conservative with the 37-year-old former league MVP.

“Josh, it’s the hamstring, so it’s likely going to be an IL situation. But we’ll make that call right at the end of the day,” Boone said ahead of Friday afternoon’s game against the Orioles in Baltimore. “Don’t feel like it’s too serious, but enough in there that it would probably knock him down for four or five days. So, we’re going to likely be cautious in this situation. Looks like it’s probably shorter than [the 10-day IL], but probably err on the side of caution in this month of April.”

Donaldson, who is coming off one of the lowest offensive outputs of his 13-year career in 2022, hitting .222/.308/.374 with 15 home runs in 132 games, has had a slow start to the season, with two hits in five games, one of them a home run.

Donaldson’s injury, which Boone stressed is not significant and did not require any imaging, would open up the door for a return to the majors of rookie Oswald Peraza. Peraza, a prized prospect who lost his roster spot to fellow rookie shortstop Anthony Volpe out of spring training, was a September call-up last year and impressed during his short stint, with a .306/.404/.429 slash line.

But it will likely not be necessary for the Yankees to bring up a position player in Donaldson’s absence, with them having not only the option to play versatile infielder DJ LeMahieu at third but also Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Oswaldo Cabrera, both infielders turned outfielders with experience, manning the hot corner. Kiner-Falefa even won a Gold Glove at third base with the Texas Rangers during the 2020 coronavirus-shortened season.

“It’ll be mostly DJ, but I’ll spot Cabrera in there possibly,” said Boone of LeMahieu likely getting most of the reps at third base in Donaldson’s absence. “IKF can obviously play over there. But DJ will get the bulk of that.”

The Yankees have been affected by the injury bug early in 2023, mostly on the pitching front, opening the season without three-fifths of their projected starting rotation, with Carlos Rodon (forearm strain) and Luis Severino (low-grade right lat strain) and Frankie Montas (shoulder surgery) all on the injured list. Relievers Lou Trivino (elbow sprain) and Tommy Kahnle (biceps tendinitis) and center fielder Harrison Bader (oblique) are also all on the shelf.

Boone said that Severino threw from 120 feet and is expected to throw a bullpen Sunday and that Rodon faced live hitters Wednesday and likely will throw live batting practice Monday. Rodon and Severino are expected to rejoin the rotation at some point in April or May, although there is no definitive timeline.

“I am feeling much, much better than before but still not at the point where I am pain-free,” Severino told ESPN in Baltimore. “I don’t know what the rehab schedule will be like, but in a perfect world, I hope to be in a rehab assignment or starting a throwing progression next week or the week after that and go from there.”

Rookie Jhony Brito, who made his major league debut Sunday with a spot start in place of Severino before being sent back down to Triple-A, is currently on the Yankees’ taxi squad and will likely be activated for the following series in Cleveland.