Joba Chamberlain attended Monday’s Mets game against the Rockies as a guest of Jason Giambi. (Paul J. Bereswill for The New Yo)
The Yankees bullpen took a beating yesterday, and there wasn’t even a game at Yankee Stadium.
After the game with the Orioles was rained out, Yankees manager Joe Girardi announced left-handed reliever Pedro Feliciano had a setback after playing catch yesterday and will be sent for another MRI exam today. Feliciano has been on the 15-day disabled list all season with a left rotator cuff strain.
The Yankees also placed right-hander Luis Ayala on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right lateral muscle. Ayala has pitched in three games.
The news on Feliciano is the bigger worry, because the Yankees signed him to a two-year, $8 million deal this winter after he made 266 appearances for the Mets in the last three years. Feliciano has not pitched since early March. The Yankees shut him down just before the end of spring training, hoping they would have him back by the end of April.
“It’s a concern because we were hoping after these two weeks we’d be able to take the next step,” Girardi said. “We’re just not there yet.”
Ayala pitched Saturday at Fenway Park, throwing two scoreless innings. He felt tightness after the game, and again on Sunday. He was sent for an MRI exam, which showed the problem in his right lat muscle. Girardi did not announce who will be called up to take Ayala’s roster spot. When asked if they would bring up a left-hander to give them one to go along with Boone Logan, Girardi said it’s a consideration.
“We’ll talk about what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’ll probably take who we think can help us the most right now.”
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No makeup date was announced for last night’s rainout. The Orioles come back in July and September.
The Yankees pushed back A.J. Burnett to start tonight and Phil Hughes to tomorrow. They did not announce what they will do this weekend against the Rangers. Freddy Garcia was scheduled to make his first start Friday. He still might pitch then, or the Yankees could move Ivan Nova into that spot and push Garcia back to Saturday or Sunday.
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Before last night’s game was rained out, Girardi said he planned on giving catcher Russell Martin Friday off. Martin has caught every game this year. Backup Gustavo Molina likely will catch the game Garcia starts. . . . Alex Rodriguez was scheduled to be in last night’s lineup after missing Sunday’s game with the flu. . . . Joba Chamberlain attended Monday’s Mets-Rockies game at Citi Field as a guest of former teammate Jason Giambi.