KANSAS CITY – Shock traveled from America’s heartland to The Bronx yesterday over Jeff Nelson’s right elbow hurting him enough for the slider-throwing reliever to land on the disabled list.
“There is nobody more surprised than me,” said pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, who didn’t see Nelson yesterday.
Stottlemyre said the right-handed set-up man asked Sunday to throw in the bullpen yesterday for five minutes to work on some things.
“Apparently, it swelled up over [Sunday] night,” Stottlemyre said.
GM Brian Cashman’s response to the news that the World Champions would be without Nelson for 15 days was similar to Stottlemyre’s.
“I was surprised,” Cashman said from his Yankee Stadium office. “I got the phone call at four o’clock. I didn’t think he had been hurting.”
According to trainer Gene Monahan, the swelling in Nelson’s elbow is considerate moderate. Nelson will be examined by team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon today in New York. To take Nelson’s place in the bullpen, the Yankees summoned righty Jay Tessmer from Columbus (Triple-A).
In nine games, the side-arming Tessmer was 1-0 with a very tidy 0.96 ERA. Most impressive was Tessmer allowing four hits in 91/3 innings and striking out eight with two walks.
He was slated to arrive 40 minutes into last night’s game against the Royals and shouldn’t have been expecting the night off.
“I am not going to worry about jet lag,” interim manager Don Zimmer said. “If I need him, I will use him.”
Todd Erdos was the other option but he went five innings Sunday for the Clippers and therefore wasn’t available for a couple of days.
At least the Yankees have a reason for Nelson’s ineffectiveness lately, even if Stottlemyre believes Nelson wanting to blow every pitch by hitters and trying to make perfect pitches all the time led to the slide.
In his last seven appearances, Nelson has worked 42/3 innings, allowing eight walks, 10 hits and seven earned runs for a whopping 13.49 ERA.
“He has been having trouble with his control,” Stottlemyre said of Nelson, who was on the DL last year for three months last year with a balky back. Nelson had bone chips removed from the same elbow following the 1996 season.
While Stottlemyre doesn’t dispute there is something wrong with Nelson’s elbow, he thought he uncovered another reason for the righty’s problems.
“I think it was his mental approach at times,” Stottlemyre said. “Mechanically, he was good and bad at times and he was trying to make unhittable pitches all the time. If he was hurting [Sunday night] he didn’t say it.”
While Zimmer and Stottlemyre didn’t anoint Jason Grimsley as Nelson’s replacement in the set-up role, that’s how the 31-year-old righty will be used. Sunday, he impressed by throwing two scoreless innings following Nelson in a 9-8 Yankees victory.
Grimsley was signed to a minor league contract that included an unusual $20,000 signing bonus on the recommendation of organizational pitching guru Billy Connors. Grimsley’s first taste of the big leagues since 1996 has resulted in a 2-0 record to go along with a 3.38 ERA.
“People told me there was no opportunity here, but the Yankees were the first people to contact me,” Grimsley said. “Billy told me if I threw strikes, I had a chance to help the big league club.
“If the World Champions believed in me that way, why couldn’t I believe in myself that way?”
As for Tessmer, he appeared in seven games last year for the Yankees, going 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA.
“Tessmer is going to get some hitters out,” Zimmer said. “I don’t think he is afraid of anything. Nothing bothers the guy. He looks about 12 years old, but nothing bothers him.”