In the ninth inning of New York's 11-5 victory over Seattle on Monday night, Cabrera fractured his left ankle on an awkward slide when he reached back for the plate and scored the Yankees' final run on Aaron Judge's sacrifice fly.
Manager Aaron Boone said Cabrera avoided emergency surgery and was discharged from the hospital early Tuesday morning before taking a flight back to New York. Cabrera is expected to meet with Dr. Justin Greisberg, an orthopedic foot and ankle surgeon, in New York on Wednesday.
“He’ll see Dr. Greisberg tomorrow and then kind of get the plan of action, surgery in play potentially the next day,” Boone said. “But, we’ll have a better idea here (in) the next 24 hours, 48 hours, just exactly what they’re dealing with.”
Boone visited Cabrera in the hospital Monday night, as did numerous Yankees teammates — two at a time — throughout the evening, as well as in the team hotel lobby Tuesday morning.
Upon leaving Seattle, Cabrera did so without a hard cast, nor a clear idea as to whether he had sustained any ligament damage in his left ankle. As a result, Boone was noncommittal about whether Cabrera could return later this year, or if his 2025 season ended with the injury.
“I have no idea,” Boone said. “We’ll see, we’ll see. Again, that’s one of those things that if and when they do surgery, they’ll go in there and you’ll get a better idea when you’re in there of what exactly is needed and then we’ll see.”
Cabrera had become a regular in the Yankees’ lineup this season. The clubhouse favorite is hitting .243 this season with one home run and 11 RBIs.
There are a number of internal options to fill Cabrera’s spot in the lineup in the meantime, Boone said. The since-activated LeMahieu could get time there, as well as Pablo Reyes and Jorbit Vivas. Oswald Peraza got the start at third base on Tuesday night.
Primarily, LeMahieu will play second base, the position the 36-year-old utilityman has spent the majority of his MLB career.
“It feels natural. I played there for 12 years,” LeMahieu said. “So, yeah, I feel really good over there. But yeah, kind of see how it checks out.”
LeMahieu was flying to Seattle during the middle of Monday night’s game, and learned of Cabrera’s injury when checking the score. Like his Yankees teammates, LeMahieu was devastated by the news.
“Obviously it’s one of the dark sides of the game,” LeMahieu said. “Super unfortunate. He’s a great guy, great player and just really unfortunate.”
While Cabrera’s season hangs in the balance and the Yankees attempt to move forward for however long he’s sidelined, Boone hardly could have gathered the fourth-year big leaguer was going through a challenging time from their Tuesday morning interaction.
“He was smiling, happy,” Boone said. “Trust he’s in good hands.”
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Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP