New York Yankees’ Andrew Miller exits game with apparent wrist injury
By Tim Haberin
New York Yankees reliever Andrew Miller left Wednesday’s spring game with a bruised wrist after being hit by a line drive.
New York Yankees relief pitcher Andrew Miller was struck in the right wrist by a line drive during Wednesday afternoon’s Spring Training game against the Atlanta Braves. The ball came off the bat of catcher Willians Astudillo to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning.
While it’s worth noting that Miller was hit on his non-throwing arm, he seemed to be in some pain as he left the field.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman later reported that all they could tell for certain at the moment is that Miller suffered a bruise on his wrist. He will be returning to the team’s training complex in Tampa for X-rays and a CT scan to determine the extent of the injury.
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The Yanks entered the spring with an embarrassment of riches in their bullpen, but their relief options will suddenly look rather thin if Miller is not able to start the regular season on time. The team acquired Aroldis Chapman over the winter with the expectation that he would serve some kind of suspension for his recent domestic violence allegations. He received a 30-game ban, but the club naturally felt confident that Miller and Dellin Betances would be more than able to hold down the late innings in his absence.
If Miller is forced to miss time, Betances would take over as closer in the interim. The Yankees would also need to lean more on the other members of their bullpen. Lefty Chasen Shreve would presumably serve as the setup man. He turned in a surprising rookie season for the Yankees last year, posting a 3.09 ERA and 9.9 K/9 in 58.1 innings. He appeared to run out of gas toward the end of the campaign, however, allowing nine runs on 16 hits over six frames in the final month.
Bryan Mitchell had reportedly earned a bullpen spot, but he’s dealing with an injury issue of his own at the moment. Whichever of CC Sabathia and Ivan Nova loses the fifth starter competition will also have a place in the pen.
The Yankees will likely round out the rest of their relief corps. by choosing from among Luis Cessa, Johnny Barbato, Kirby Yates and Anthony Swarzak. Cashman also plans to continue shuffling fresh arms between New York and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as needed.
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For now, the Yanks will hope that Miller’s injury is just a bruise and nothing more. Otherwise, what recently looked like an overwhelming strength on the roster could turn into a legitimate question mark.