As the Boston Red Sox climb their way up the American League Wild Card picture, the New York Yankees have been dealt another brual hand from the injury bug.
Cody Bellinger on July 25 exited the Yankees' game against the Philadelphia Phillies prematurely. Bellinger cracked a double in the eighth inning and it took him a while to get up after his slide into second base. He remained in the game for the rest of the half-inning, but did not return to play the field.
The Yankees seemingly hoped that Bellinger would be able to avoid the injured list, as he was pictured doing drills on the field at Citizens Bank Park before the Sunday series finale against the Phillies. But before the game, New York placed him on the 10-day IL with a hamstring strain.
Bellinger's injury is another blow the Yankees can't afford. Aaron Judge has been on the IL since June 2 with a stress fracture in his ribs and the offense has definitely missed his unrivaled consistent power. Ben Rice and Bellinger and the second and third most important offensive contributors to the team and losing one of them for any amount of time could devastate the Yankees.
Yankees' Cody Bellinger going on IL with hamstring strain gives Red Sox perfect chance to advance in AL East
Bellinger is batting .259/.350/.420 with 21 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs and 53 RBI over 103 games this season. His defensive impact is just as significant, as he's logged six outs above average and a league-leading 19 defensive runs saved in left field.
The Yankees have a tough stretch of opponents coming up, beginning with the White Sox and Cubs, then the Cardinals, Braves and Mariners. Bellinger may not miss all of those series as he's only on the 10-day IL, but the Yankees would surely like to be at full strength against strong teams like the two from Chicago. Meanwhile, the Red Sox have two series against the Athletics in the same week. The A's have gone 4-17 in July, crashing and burning out of Wild Card contention.
New York still expects Judge to be out for quite some time, and with Bellinger also on the IL, Boston has a golden chance to jump in the standings. The Sox are only 4.5 games behind the Yankees in the Wild Card standings and a good two weeks against the A's could be just the boost they need to jump into the first Wild Card spot.
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