Yankees Place Two Key Players on IL

The New York Yankees have taken a hit in the bullpen and the infield, as they've had to place two regulars on the injured list. 

Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees made the following roster moves:

• Recalled RHP Jhony Brito from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
• Placed INF Josh Donaldson on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to 4/6) with a right hamstring strain.
• Placed RHP Jonathan Loáisiga on…

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 8, 2023

Third baseman Josh Donaldson was expected to be headed to the IL with a hamstring strain. But the loss of reliever Jonathan Loáisiga comes as a bit of a surprise. The valuable bullpen arm has come down with right elbow inflammation, and is out for 15 days, backdated to April 6th. 

This news explains why manager Aaron Boone went with Jimmy Cordero over Loaisiga in a tie game in the seventh inning Friday night, leading to the Orioles scoring the go-ahead runs. 

In other roster machinations to correspond with Donaldson and Loaisiga, we reported yesterday on the news that sensational rookie Jhony Brito was coming back up from Triple-A for a start Saturday night; the team has also announced that Willie Calhoun has been promoted to the big league roster for the first time. 

He'll battle for some left field time with Oswaldo Cabrera and Aaron Hicks. The six-year veteran was hitting .333 in seven games at Triple-A, with seven hits in five games, including a pair of doubles, after a strong spring training with New York, in which he hit .294 with a .771 OPS in 51 at-bats. 

At third during Donaldson's absence the Yanks are pretty much covered by  DJ LeMahieu and some Isiah Kiner-Falefa. 

Photo: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports