Getty Tommy John surgery will force Didi Gregorius of the New York Yankees to miss time in 2019.
New York Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow next week.
#Yankees say Didi Gregorius will undergo Tommy John surgery next week on right elbow. Injured himself in ALDS 1 at Fenway. Officials hopeful DG will be back at some point in 2019. For now Gleyber Torres is the obvious candidate to move over to short.
Didi Gregorious’ Elbow Injury
The shortstop will likely miss the start of the 2019 campaign, but manager Aaron Boone is confident Gregorius will play the majority of the year.
“Realistic chance he plays the bulk of the season with us,” Boone said, according to WFAN’s Sweeny Murti.
Added general manager Brain Cashman, per Newsday’s Erik Boland: “Is it bring him back in June, July, August? I think all depends on how it plays out. I’d rather not put a time frame on it. We do expect to get him back and we do expect him to return to the player we’ve been enjoying for quite some time.”
Gregorius sustained the injury in Game 1 of his team’s ALDS against the Boston Red Sox, but he remained in that game and started the rest as the Yankees lost the best-of-five series in four games.
In 2018, the shortstop enjoyed his third consecutive season with 20 or more home runs. He smacked 27 bombs to go with 86 RBI in 134 games while hitting .268/.335/.494.
Who Will Fill the Shortstop Vacancy?
If the team doesn’t address the vacancy at shortstop via free agency or the trade market, Gleyber Torres is the natural choice. The 21-year-old played mostly second base for the Yankees in 2018, his rookie year, hitting .271/.340/.480 with 24 home runs and 77 RBI. Before the season, Torres played almost exclusively at shortstop in the minors, and was named a top-six prospect by Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus.
Because they’re the Yankees and he’ll arguably be the best free agent on the market, New York is expected to pursue shortstop and third baseman Manny Machado this offseason.
#Yankees will go hard after Manny Machado. That’s a no-brainer now.
Machado prefers shortstop, but an August report from Fancred’s Jon Heyman indicated that Machado would man either position if it means playing for the Yankees:
… people close to Machado suggest the Yankees might just be his first choice. One Machado friend went so far as to say that Machado — who has professed his love for shortstop — would easily give up shortstop to play for the Yankees. If he did so, that would be reminiscent of his mentor Alex Rodriguez, another Miami wunderkind who moved to third base in order to don the pinstripes.
Machado isn’t going to give away his preferences now, particularly while playing for a different marquee franchise, but multiple people say Machado and his family — who live in Miami — are all in on their love of the Yankees and New York, which fits his big-city preference and desire to get back to the East Coast. He’s said to be OK with Los Angeles, but according to others anyway, apparently views it as a stopover.
With Torres in the fold, however, Machado doesn’t address New York’s most glaring needs: starting pitching and left-handed hitting.
Pitchers Patrick Corbin, Dallas Keuchel, and Clayton Kershaw (who has an opt-out clause in his contract this offseason) could all be available in free agency, as will lefty-hitting 2015 NL MVP Bryce Harper, so Machado might not be too high on the team’s list of priorities.