The New York Yankees will probably have to do without Outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury at the start of the season. The 34-year-old has been struggling for weeks with an injury to his oblique abdominal muscle.
Already since 1. Ellsbury did not play any more games in jumping training with the injury. He was due to return to Detroit on Tuesday, but a cold destroyed it.
“It’s a pity,” said Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Monday, calling a time on the Disabled List for Ellsbury “very likely”: “It’s just too hard to give him enough until the start of the season,” Boone explained the measure, but admitted: “The good news is that at least we feel that his injury is completely healed.
Ellsbury will start the season as backup outfielder after losing his center field spot to Aaron Hicks last year. Nevertheless, Ellsbury is one of the top earners in the team with a guaranteed annual salary of more than $21 million over the next three years.
In addition, his current seven-year contract, worth a total of $153 million, includes a further $21 million team option for 2021 – with a buyout of $5 million.
Last year, Ellsbury beat .264 with seven home runs and 39 RBI in 112 games. Due to a concussion, however, he had to take a break for over a month between May and June.
This article was published without previous view by the Major League Baseball.