OAKLAND, Calif. — Nick Swisher said he doesn’t think he is headed for the disabled list, but his hip flexor problem suffered Friday night was serious enough for the Yankees to stuff him into an MRI tube Saturday.
According to manager Joe Girardi the MRI exam confirmed the original diagnosis that Swisher has a mild strain of the left hip flexor.
Nevertheless, it’s not clear when the right fielder will return. It’s possible Swisher won’t be back until the Yankees play host to the Red Sox this coming weekend.
“When they do the tests in Seattle they will be very light tests,’’ Swisher said before the Yankees’ 2-1 loss to the A’s Saturday night at O.co Coliseum. “And we will see where we are from there.’’
The Yankees aren’t planning on promoting an outfielder from the minor leagues for protection while Swisher is out but not on the disabled list.
“It puts your mind at ease,’’ Swisher said of the MRI exam.
Swisher suffered the strain running out a ground ball in the seventh inning of Friday night’s 4-3 loss.
“I know you guys want a timetable and I wish I knew,’’ said Swisher, who missed six games in late April and early May with a left hamstring problem. “I don’t think it’s anything super serious.’’
Friday night Swisher said the “DL is not in my vocabulary’’ and he said Saturday, “It’s still not.’’
“I feel like I can play through a lot of pain,’’ Swisher said. “I will chill out and see what happens in Seattle.’’
The Yankees finish a four-game series against the A’s today and open a three-game series tomorrow night in Seattle.
Girardi used the lefty-swinging Dewayne Wise in right field last night against A’s right-hander Jarrod Parker. He went 0-for-3.
“I don’t anticipate him playing this series,’’ Girardi said of Swisher, who is hitting .310 (9-for-29) in the last 11 games. “Maybe Seattle.’’
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Joba Chamberlain’s fastball was clocked at 100 mph, according to a speed gun at his rehab appearance Friday night in Bradenton, Fla.
Yet the Yankees didn’t need to see triple digits to understand Chamberlain’s return from Tommy John surgery last summer and right ankle surgery in March has been spotless.
“I don’t think it could have gone any more smoothly,’’ Girardi said of the four-game rehab stint that continues Tuesday. “He has thrown two innings [in one game] and 32 pitches [Friday]. I don’t see how it could be any better.’’
Chamberlain has yet to throw in consecutive games. When he does that, the right-handed reliever could be ready to come off the disabled list, though don’t look for him much before next weekend’s series against the Red Sox. His 30-day rehab assignment expires Aug. 8.
“He is doing great. He will have a [bullpen session] [Sunday] and go Tuesday,’’ said pitching coach Larry Rothschild, who was not sure Chamberlain would pitch Tuesday and Wednesday. “The top priority is to make sure he is totally healthy.’’
A healthy and effective Chamberlain would provide a boost to the Yankees’ bullpen, which has been effective but certainly would welcome a power arm like Chamberlain’s.
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Mark Teixeira got hit by a pitch on the left knee in the eighth inning of Friday night’s 3-2 loss to the A’s and hobbled to first, but he said there is no problem. Teixeira went 1-for-4 with a single in Saturday night’s loss.
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Ivan Nova said he knows he needs to pitch like there are runners in scoring position even when they aren’t.
“With runners in scoring position, I think I focus more than when there is nobody on base,’’ Nova said Friday night.
Nova limited the A’s to two hits in 10 at-bats in the clutch, in line with the .197 average (26-for-132) opposing hitters have against him with runners in scoring position. Batters are hitting a healthy .283 overall against Nova, who has allowed a MLB-leading 247 total bases.
Though he is 10-4 with a 4.10 ERA, Nova has given up 137 hits in 123 innings, which is far too many.
“When he misses [location] he gets hit harder than others,’’ Girardi said following Nova’s 6 ²/₃ -inning outing in which he allowed two runs and nine hits.
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CC Sabathia pitches for the first time as a 32-year-old Sunday in the Coliseum, a stadium he visited often as a kid growing up in nearby Vallejo. About 250 of the lefty’s friends and family members will be in attendance Sunday.
Though Sabathia, whose birthday was yesterday, has performed better at the Coliseum lately against the A’s, it wasn’t always like that.
“I used to make it a bigger deal than it had to be,’’ Sabathia said.
Sabathia is 8-8 with a 4.84 ERA against the A’s and 4-5 with a 5.13 ERA at the Coliseum. One of those wins came on May 26, when he beat the A’s, 9-2, giving up two runs and seven hits in seven innings. Since May 14, 2008, Sabathia is 6-1 with a 2.62 ERA in the last nine starts against the A’s, and his team went 7-2 in those games.
Robinson Cano, who went 0-for-4 Saturday night, had his hitting streak was snapped at 23 games. It was the longest streak by a Yankee since Derek Jeter hit in 25 consecutive games from Aug. 20-Sept. 16, 2006.