New York Yankees Rumors: Gary Sanchez Injury Update A Bad One For Yankees Fans, Fantasy Baseball Owners

New York Yankees rumors now include a Gary Sanchez injury update. The news is bad for the Yankees, as Sanchez could miss more than a month of time. MLB analyst Bryan Hoch posted a report on Twitter, stating that the Sanchez injury is a Grade 1 strain of the right brachialis muscle. The second-year catcher is now going to miss at least four weeks while he tries to recover.

The short-term news within this Gary Sanchez injury update is that he has been advised to avoid baseball activities for the next 10 days. His doctors want to give the arm a chance to heal properly, showing why there is now a long-term timetable for Sanchez to return to the Yankees. It will hurt the Yankees in the middle of the batting order, with Austin Romine expected to get a majority of the starts at catcher in his absence.

The season did not start out well for the Yankees and their starting catcher was not immune from those struggles. Gary Sanchez’s stats from the first five games included going 3-for-20 at the plate for a 0.150 batting average. He did have a home run, but also four strikeouts before getting hurt on Saturday (April 8). Austin Romine has not done well either, going just 1-for-9 in his three games.

Addressing the New York Yankees rumors about what the team would do following Sanchez getting placed on the disabled list, Kyle Higashioka was promoted to take the role of the backup catcher on the roster. After nine years in the minor leagues, Higashioka saw his first action for the Yankees on Monday (April 10), serving as a late-inning defensive replacement. He has not yet had a Major League at-bat.

A lot of buzz surrounded Sanchez during spring training, as he finished the 2016 regular season with some impressive numbers. In just 53 games (229 plate appearances), Sanchez had 20 home runs, 34 runs scored, 42 RBIs, and a 0.299 batting average. He would place second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting and had Yankees fans very excited about what he might be able to do in the 2017 season. A trip to the disabled list wasn’t in those plans.

There have been a number of New York Yankees trade rumors about the team working to either acquire a shortstop to fill in for the injured Didi Gregorius or a starting pitcher to help improve the rotation. Players who have been linked to those Yankees trade rumors are Zack Cozart of the Cincinnati Reds and Jose Quintana of the Chicago White Sox. As Ronald Torreyes does well in his replacement role, the chatter about acquiring an infielder has died down, but the team is still looking to improve its starting rotation.

Starting pitcher Michael Pineda came up huge for the Yankees on Monday as they played the Tampa Bay Rays. Pineda didn’t allow a baserunner until the top of the eighth inning, flirting with a perfect game in front of the home crowd. He would wind up allowing just two hits over 7 2/3 innings of work, striking out 11 batters along the way. The Yankees would pour on the offense late, easily beating the Rays 8-1 in this game to set an early tone for this series.

In the updated MLB standings, the Yankees are fourth place in the American League East at 3-4. Currently, the 4-1 Baltimore Orioles lead the division, with the 1-5 Toronto Blue Jays taking over the cellar. The East should be very competitive this season, but the Yankees are in a tough position after this Gary Sanchez injury update has been revealed. Fans should expect to see a lot of Austin Romine and for continued New York Yankees rumors about the starting rotation to come up if the team can put together a few wins.

[Featured Image by Joseph Garnett Jr. /Getty Images]