Possible Injury Concern For Yanks With An IPK Return

Although not on the Giants level, this is potentially pretty bad news for the Yankees. From Peter Abraham:

Jerry Hairston Jr. “felt a pop” in his left wrist while taking a practice swing in the seventh inning. That’s why he came out of the game.

Hairston said he felt a sharp pain. He has been been having wrist issues on and off since diving for a ball while playing for Cincinnati earlier this season. He disclosed that he had an MRI about 10 days ago and then received a cortisone shot to try and calm some inflammation.

“I’m just hoping it’s some scar tissue breaking up,” he said.

Hairston will have another MRI tomorrow. We should hear more then.

This is not as devastating as the Phillips news, but this could be bad for the Yankees. Hairston has been a very useful player for the Yankees. He may be only batting .235 for the Yankees, but he does have a .346 OBP which is higher than Melky Cabrera's and Hairston plays every infield and outfield position.

Luckily for the Yankees, Ramiro Pena is a ready and capable replacement. And with Brett Gardner back healthy, either he or Cabrera will be much better defensive replacements/pitch runners than Hairston.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, they would have been much more versatile had they had both players on the playoff roster (especially since Hairston is a much better outfielder than Hairston). Let's just hope this injury is not serious and they both will be part of the Yankees playoff run.

But one good note from the Yankees yesterday: Ian Patrick Kennedy (also known as IPK) came back from surgery to fix an aneursym and played the Phil Hughes role in the 8th inning of relief. Since Joba, IPK and Hughes all came up together as a trio of starters, it is fitting that each one has now had his shot pitching the 8th inning for the Yankees. Does the "IPK: starter or reliever" debate start today?

Regardless, it was good to see Kennedy back and pitching. As New York Magazine correctly stated, we didn't think we'd see the headline of "Ian Kennedy Pitches As Yanks Win a Series in Anaheim" anytime this season. So congrats to him on making it all the way back.