The New York Yankees have placed All-Star outfielder Cody Bellinger on the 10-day injured list after he suffered a left hamstring strain, dealing another blow to a lineup that is already short-handed without several key offensive players.
To fill the vacancy on the roster, the Yankees called up outfielder Spencer Jones from their Triple-A affiliate in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ahead of Sunday night’s contest against Philadelphia.
New York is already managing without slugger Aaron Judge, who has been out since May 31 with a fractured rib, and designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, who has been sidelined since April 24 due to a strained right calf. Heading into Sunday’s game, the Yankees sat 2½ games back of Tampa Bay in the AL East standings.
Bellinger described feeling tightness in his hamstring as he rounded first base on a double during the eighth inning of New York’s 3-1 victory over the Phillies on Saturday night. He waved off manager Aaron Boone and stayed on the basepaths to finish the inning, but he walked slowly off the field and headed into the clubhouse tunnel when the half-inning ended. Max Schuemann stepped in to replace him defensively in the bottom of that frame.
On the season, Bellinger is batting .259 with 11 home runs and 53 RBIs across 102 games. He had accumulated 19 defensive runs saved entering Saturday — the highest total in all of Major League Baseball — and was named MVP of the All-Star Game two weeks ago, which was held in Philadelphia.
Bellinger returned to the Yankees last offseason on a five-year, $162.5 million contract and has been a significant contributor to the club’s offense. He was hitting .280 through mid-June before a slump brought his average down to .254 by the All-Star break, and he has not hit a home run in over a month.
