That didn’t take long.
Jacoby Ellsbury was scratched from Sunday’s lineup with tightness in his right calf and won’t play Monday in Bradenton.
“It doesn’t sound like it’s much, but thankfully it’s March, so we can make sure it’s not going to be much,” general manager Brian Cashman said before the Yankees beat the Braves 7-4 at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “If it takes a few days or a week [to heal], so be it.”
Rob Thomson, filling in for Joe Girardi while the manager is in Panama, said Ellsbury first felt the injury on Saturday, but that’s not why he left the field abruptly. Ellsbury said Saturday’s workout was “normal.”
“If this was the regular season, I’d be playing for sure,” Ellsbury said.
Still, the main risk in signing Ellsbury to the seven-year, $153 million contract this offseason was his injury history. That history, while extensive, does not include muscle pulls, so the Yankees insist they aren’t concerned.
But calf issues for a speedy outfielder are especially problematic.
“That’s his life,” Thomson said of his speed. “Whether he’s hitting or running or defending, he’s got to have good legs. But I think it’s not going to be long.”
Most of Ellsbury’s previous health woes have involved collisions or being hit by pitches and the Yankees chalked them up to freak things when they gambled on him.
He played 134 games and the postseason with the Red Sox last year, but was hobbled by a compression in his right foot. In 2012, a shoulder injury helped limit Ellsbury to 74 games and in 2010 he played just 18 games because of fractured ribs.
Derek Jeter blamed first base coach Willie Randolph for jinxing the Yankees no-hit bid during their 7-0 win over the Marlins at Rod Carew Stadium.
“Willie was talking about it before [Giancarlo] Stanton came up [in the seventh] and Stanton hit the next pitch,’’ Jeter said of the Marlins only hit one day after the Marlins no-hit the Yankees.
When camp opened Girardi said a decision on the fifth starter wouldn’t be made quickly and that when it was decided it would affect what the Yankees’ bullpen would look like.
With a dozen exhibition games remaining Girardi could announce the winner among David Phelps, Adam Warren, Vidal Nuno and Michael Pineda inside a week.
“At the end of next week, you hope, maybe not,’’ Girardi said when asked if he had a definitive date.
Phelps entered camp as the slight favorite to fall in behind CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Masahiro Tanaka and Ivan Nova. And while Phelps, outside of his last outing, has pitched well, he hasn’t separated himself from the field. Warren provided 4 ¹/₃ solid innings Saturday night in a 5-0 loss to the Marlins in which the Yankees didn’t collect a hit. Nuno has done nothing to eliminate himself and Pineda’s surgically repaired right shoulder hasn’t been a problem.
If Pineda is the choice, Phelps, Warren and the left-handed Nuno could land in the pen where the collection of arms in front of new closer David Robertson is a bit scattered. None of the Phelps-Warren-Nuno alliance would be a back-end reliever but all can provide length.
Nuno doesn’t have the pedigree of Phelps, Warren and Pineda. Phelps came out of Notre Dame; Warren from UNC and Pineda was an All-Star as a rookie in 2011 with Seattle. Nuno, attended Baker University and battled through the independent league circuit before reaching the big leagues last year with the Yankees when he appeared in five games (three starts) going 1-2 with a 2.25 ERA.
“He put himself on the radar with what he did last year,’’ Girardi said of Nuno, who was placed on the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre disabled list with a left groin injury that ended his season. “Sometimes a swing guy is extremely important. You think about the years I was here, that guy was (Ramiro) Mendoza. He could give you two innings out of the bullpen and if you needed a spot starter he could do it.’’
While Girardi might like adding a second lefty reliever behind Matt Thornton and Nuno could be it, what arm doesn’t matter to the manager.
“I am looking for who can help us more, not necessarily if they are right-handed or left-handed,’’ Girardi said.
As for who might be the second lefty in the pen, Girardi listed long shot Fred Lewis at the top of the
list.
“Obviously, Fred Lewis is in that mix, [Cesar] Cabral is in that mix and depending on what happens with Nuno I think you have to think about him,’’ Girardi said.
Throughout the English part of an interview with reporters Roberto Duran required an interpreter to answer. However, when asked who was more popular in Panama between himself and Mariano Rivera, the former boxing champion raised his arms over the head and smiled.
“He understood that question,’’ the interpreter said before translating Duran’s words.
“I am from one generation, he is from another, equally popular,’’ Duran said.
With Rivera by his side the 62-year-old Duran threw the ceremonial first pitch and bounced it in front of the plate where he was gloved by the Stanton of the Marlins.
Duran said he knew Rivera “casually.”
The Yankees optioned lefty Manny Banuelos to Single-A Tampa.
“When you have that kind of physical ability and you’re left-handed and it’s a thin pitching market, you can move really quick in this game,” Cashman said of Banuelos’ future now that he’s healthy following Tommy John surgery. Wherever he winds up, Banuelos will be a starter. … Eduardo Nunez (thigh) returned to the lineup and stole a base. … Brendan Ryan (sore back) took grounders Sunday and is expected to have a full workout day Monday and could play in a game by the middle of the week.