The Yankees are expecting to get a few players back into the lineup once the American League Division Series begins on Tuesday with the Cleveland Guardians. Matt Carpenter, Clay Holmes and Wandy Peralta are among the guys that Yankee fans have been keeping an eye on as they work their way back for the postseason.
New York’s postseason roster is still to be determined, so there is still a bit of a mystery around what the Yankees lineup card will look like come Tuesday. But the return of Peralta and Holmes would be a big boost for the Yankees bullpen, especially with Aroldis Chapman going AWOL and being excluded from the ALDS roster, and Carpenter is a powerful bat to have as a DH or off the bench.
Here is an update on several of the injured Yankees who may be back for the postseason.
Matt Carpenter
The aforementioned Carpenter appeared ready to go for the division series when he spoke to reporters before Sunday’s workout at Yankee Stadium. The veteran outfielder said as much as well, adding that he’s felt ready physically and that during recent at-bats he has had good, competitive ones.
Carpenter had been working his way back from a fractured foot which he had suffered on Aug. 8 against Seattle. He has been getting work in at the Yankees alternate site down in Somerset while the Yankees wrapped their season in Texas.
“I’m able to do what I need to do,” Carpenter said when asked if he was limited at all by his foot.
He had already been doing some base running and hitting, and said he would start to do some fielding as well during Sunday’s workout.
“He looks great. He’s been getting all of his live at-bats, actually took Nestor (Cortes) deep yesterday,” Boone said. “But he looks good swinging the bat.”
Clay Holmes
Similar to Carpenter, the Yankees reliever is trending in the right direction and should be ready for the division series. However, Holmes expressed some hesitation that he would be for sure ready to go for Game 1. Holmes, who was dominant in the first half of the season before cooling down a bit in the second half of the year, had been dealing with a shoulder sprain.
Holmes did say that he felt a noticeable difference in his arm when he threw on Friday than when he has pitched in the past.
“There was just nothing nagging in there. It felt free and easy and the (velocity),” he said. “That outing in Toronto, just a little pitch there felt something kind of tug a little bit. Just kind of stay with me the rest of the outing. Just whatever I was feeling there was gone and everything felt good the last bullpen.”
Boone said that Holmes would throw live on Monday, which will help determine at what point in the series he would return. The Yankees skipper did say that “week’s gone well.”
Wandy Peralta
The Yankees reliever is “good” according to Boone and it appears that he will be ready for the division series as was expected. He had been dealing with left thoracic spine tightness during the end of the season and was down in Somerset at the alternate site during the final games of the regular season.
Andrew Benintendi
The good news for the Yankees trade deadline acquisition is that he is getting closer to returning, but he is what Boone described as a long shot for the ALDS. Benintendi had to undergo surgery to repair a broken hook of the hamate bone in his right hand.
“He is starting to hit some live. He’s getting better every day, so I don’t want to totally rule it out, but I’m not necessarily expecting it,” Boone said.
Benintendi isn’t expected to return until the American League Championship Series if the Yankees advance.
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