Joe Girardi never said Kevin Youkilis is definitely going on the disabled list, but the Yankees manager said a decision was going to be made last night before Youkilis has an epidural today on his lower back.
An MRI exam yesterday didn’t reveal anything new from previous exams.
Since the decision preceded the epidural, Youkilis is a strong candidate to join a very crowded Yankees DL.
“I have had epidurals and played the next day or two days later,’’ Girardi said. “I don’t know if he is in position to play in two days. I probably wasn’t as bad as he felt.’’
Youkilis missed his second straight game as the Yankees lost, 9-1, to the Astros, and hasn’t played in eight of nine. Had he not participated in Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium, Youkilis could have been back-dated on the DL to April 21. Now, when he goes on the shelf, Youkilis can only be back-dated to this past Sunday. He would be replaced by either Gil Velazquez or David Adams, both of whom are at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Girardi has no regrets about using Youkilis on Saturday even though it could cost the Yankees significant back-date time.
“The player told us he was ready to go and we put him in,” Girardi said. “I can’t tell you how he re-injured it. It could have been from normal use or it could have been a play. That could happen anytime so I have no second thoughts.’’
Does Youkilis regret playing Saturday?
“You never know. If we find something that shows something is a major thing and not a little thing we’re all probably gonna say that. There’s no one to blame here. Things happen,’’ Youkilis said.
Girardi wasn’t sure what caused the problem, but wasn’t ruling out a combination of muscle and disk.
“A lot of times they are tied together. He has a pre-existing condition so it can get irritated. Probably a little bit of both,’’ Girardi said.
Youkilis didn’t paint a positive picture.
“It feels same as it did the other day. I’ve had kinds of different things from back spasms to [the Sacroiliac Joint],’’ Youkilis said.
Asked if he would be playing were this the postseason, Youkilis said: “I don’t know. The big thing for me and the doctors is to get me as healthy as possible to play all the way through the end of September. I’ve felt different things in different areas.’’
Youkilis didn’t know what happened to cause the latest problem.
“One of those things waking up and I didn’t feel right. Left the field and sometimes when your adrenaline’s gone things occur,’’ Youkilis said. “Gotta suck it up sometimes and gotta play through things. I thought I could play through it.
“Just didn’t feel right after that so I didn’t play the next day.’’
* Francisco Cervelli was in the Yankees’ clubhouse with his fractured right hand in a sling, but his spirits soaring.
“I feel I can play good when I come back,’’ said Cervelli, who suffered the injury Friday night and is expected to miss six weeks. “Today is five weeks and five days.
Cervelli’s hand was hit by a foul ball because he didn’t have it protected behind his glove or back. From now on, he said he will keep it behind his back when the bases are empty, as they were Friday night.
“I can’t have another fracture,’’ said Cervelli, who is hitting .269 with three homers and eight RBIs in 17 games.
Cervelli isn’t a stranger to injuries. In 2008, he broke his right wrist during a home-plate collision in spring training. Two years ago, he fractured a foot and suffered a concussion.
“I am positive. I heal pretty quickly and I will be back soon,’’ said Cervelli, who is slated for a doctor’s visit tomorrow.
* Ichiro Suzuki was left out of Girardi’s lineup when the manager used Brennan Boesch in right field. Girardi said there was nothing physically wrong with Ichiro. Boesch, one of three Yankees who had faced Astros starter Lucas Harrell before, had been 4-for-4 against the right-hander, but went 0-for-2 with a walk. … Yankees lefty reliever Vidal Nuno threw three scoreless innings in his major league debut.