To probably nobody’s surprise, New York Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury may be starting the season on the injured list again.
Cashman: Ellsbury will probably start year in DL #Yankees
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) February 16, 2019
Well, that didn’t take long.
Jacoby Ellsbury had some issues with his plantar fascia as he was rehabbing from his hip surgery last summer, per AB. He’ll remain in Arizona rehabbing, and likely won’t join the team and begin baseball activities until March.
— James Wagner (@ByJamesWagner) February 13, 2019
It appears as though New York Yankees outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury will likely start the year on the injured list for the second year in a row due to an ongoing issue with his plantar fascia.
There is a giant electric scooter at Jacoby Ellsbury’s locker. Just sayin’.
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) February 16, 2019
This news comes after a season in which Ellsbury did not play in a single game.
This is just the world we live in now. Ellsbury isn’t even on the Yankees anymore. He’s just getting paid handsomely by them.
I can’t think of a single prediction during this offseason that had the outfielder playing any sort of role with the team. We all just assumed he was going to get hurt and hit the injured list for long stretches of time and that’s pretty much exactly what is happening.
And as heartless as it may sound, this really is the best situation for the Yankees regarding Ellsbury.
As long as he’s on the injured list, the team can recover a good portion of his contract through insurance and he’s not going to be blocking a roster spot. That easily frees up the spot needed for Clint Frazier to take over the left field responsibilities while negating some of the damages of a really bad contract.
The Ellsbury situation will become a problem when he claims he’s healthy and comes off the injured list. At that point, the Yankees are going to need to take a serious look at cutting him and eating the rest of his contract.
It’s a far superior alternative to wasting the 25th roster spot on someone that can’t produce more than a few catcher’s interference calls on the rare occasions that he is healthy.
