Having already gone nine days without him, there is a chance the Yankees will put outfielder Roberto Kelly on the DL due to a bothersome right elbow.
“It’s possible,” GM Brian Cashman said of Kelly, who last played in a game April 18 against Rangers lefty Kenny Rogers. “We will wait and see how he feels over the next few days. … I think he is making progress. If I had to guess, I don’t think he will go on the DL but we are not out of the woods.”
While the Yankees haven’t been able to pinpoint the exact problem, Kelly missed a start against Twins lefty Eric Milton this past Monday. If Kelly can’t play against the Blue Jays’ David Wells tomorrow, a move may have to be made.
Signed because of his career .314 lifetime average against lefties, Kelly is hitting .143 (3-for-21) against them this year and .120 (3-for-25) overall.
If Kelly is shelved, the Yankees would replace him with switch-hitting outfielder Felix Jose, currently a DH for Columbus (Triple-A).
*
Dr. Robert Dellarocca, an ophthalmologist, couldn’t give the Yankees a solid reason why Paul O’Neill suffered blurred vision in his right eye Wednesday, which forced him to leave a 2-0 victory over the Twins. However, after examining the Yankees’ leading hitter Wednesday night, Dellarocca told Cashman he can expect to have his right fielder back in the lineup for tonight’s game against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
“He seems to be fine,” Cashman said of O’Neill. “It could have been one of a mile-long list of things, but the doctor said it was a 24-hour thing and Paul can play.”
*
Chuck Knoblauch, who hasn’t played since being removed from Sunday’s game in Toronto due to a sore left hand, is expected back in the lineup tonight.
*
O’Neill, who had been scheduled to join teammate Bernie Williams and former Yankee David Wells last night for a musical performance on David Letterman’s “Late Show,” was unable to attend the taping.
Wells and Williams performed a baseball-anthem related Top 10 that will be aired on tonight’s show. Williams played guitar and Wells handled the lead vocals. O’Neill was supposed to play the drums.
*
Yankees reliever Allen Watson and a 16-year-old Orioles fan he is accused of throwing baseballs at reached an out-of-court settlement yesterday, minutes before a trial on assault charges was to start in Baltimore.
Charles Robbins of Arlington, Va., claimed Watson threw two balls at his 16-year-old daughter, Cheryl, because Watson objected to a sign she was holding with an anti-Yankee slogan. Neither ball struck the teen during batting practice at Camden Yards last Sept. 28.
Court documents alleged that Yankees reliever Jeff Nelson then took the offending sign from the girl and ripped it apart.
Robbins and Watson both declined to speak to reporters after the settlement was announced.
The father and daughter had also filed a civil suit against the Yankees. Gregory Angst, Robbins’ attorney, said it would be safe to assume the suit would be dropped.
*
Yankees will have to find a way to cool off Blue Jays DH Brad Fullmer this weekend. Fullmer is riding an 11-game hitting streak in which he is 20-for-41 (.575). Fullmer is sixth in the AL batting race with a .382 average.
Last weekend in Toronto, Fullmer went 6-for-11 (.545) with two RBIs in three games against the Yankees.
*
RHP David Cone (0-2; 10.70 ERA) faces RHP Kelvim Escobar (2-2; 3.86) tonight. Escobar beat the Yankees, 8-2, with a complete-game effort last Saturday. RHP Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez (4-0; 3.13) draws LHP Wells (3-1; 3.69) tomorrow. RHP Roger Clemens (1-2; 3.69) battles RHP Roy Halladay (2-3; 10.80) Sunday.