The New York Yankees were officially eliminated from the playoffs Oct. 9 by the Boston Red Sox. While losing to their archrivals is bad enough, the end of the week saw more bad news come down for the Yankees. The team announced in a Friday press conference that shortstop Didi Gregorius will undergo Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow in the off-season.
The team believes he suffered the fateful injury in the ALDS during a play in Boston. However, General Manager Brian Cashman admitted Gregorius did have a partial tear in his elbow when he was acquired from Arizona. Recovery times from the operation have varied, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone remains optimistic that Gregorius will return to action in 2019.
ESPN reporter Coley Harvey shared comments from Cashman and Boone on the injury:
Didi Gregorius underwent an MRI Thurs, is undergoing Tommy John surgery at a to-be-determined time. Yankees believe he hurt it in one of the games in Boston. Aaron Boone is “optimistic he’ll be back at some point during the season … a realistic chance he plays bulk of season”
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) October 12, 2018
Brian Cashman says when Didi Gregorius was acquired from Arizona, he had a partial tear in his elbow that was asymptomatic. It was:
"the finishing part of something that was a sleeping giant, I guess."
— Coley Harvey (@ColeyHarvey) October 12, 2018
Didi Gregorius to undergo Tommy John Sugery
The Yankees and their deep lineup appear well-suited to deal with the absence of Gregorius. However, he will be missed as he as brought stability to the shortstop position in the post-Derek Jeter era. In four seasons in New York, Gregorius has slashed .274/.319/.447 while appearing in 578 games. He is coming off three consecutive season of at least 20 home runs, 23 doubles, and 68 runs scored. Gregorius also finished third-highest among Yankees position players in bWAR at 4.2.
Gregorius has made three post-season appearances with the Yankees and has proven to be one of the key left-handed bats in the lineup. Though he managed just three hits in the ALDS against Boston, his loss will leave a void moving forward.
Outlook
For the short term, New York may turn to youngster Gleyber Torres at shortstop. However, he has played a total of 123 MLB games with just 152 innings at short. If the Yankees are not confident in Torres at the position, they could pursue free agent Manny Machado this off-season. It is worth noting both Torres and Machado are right-handed hitters, and New York’s lineup may be better off finding a left-handed bat to fill the void.
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