TORONTO — Dustin Ackley will undergo shoulder surgery to repair a torn right labrum and is done for the season. The backup first baseman/outfielder suffered the injury diving into first base Sunday at Tampa Bay.
According to manager Joe Girardi, the surgery will be done Wednesday or Friday.
“Labrum [surgery] is usually 12 to 14 months [recovery time],’’ Girardi said. “Position player, I don’t know how long.’’
Rarely is a .148 hitter missed, and Ackley won’t be unless Mark Teixeira, who has battled neck problems on two separate occasions this season, goes down with another injury.
Though Ackley isn’t a sterling defender at first, he has played the position. As of now, backup catcher Austin Romine is Girardi’s backup first baseman, too.
That may change if the Yankees can find a better option than Romine from the outside, because it is clear the Yankees don’t view Nick Swisher, who is not on the 40-man roster while playing at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, as a candidate.
“We are going with what we have,’’ Girardi said before Tuesday night’s 4-1 loss to the Blue Jays.
At the end of the 2015 season, it was believed Ackley would be part of a second-base platoon this year, but that ended when the Yankees acquired Starlin Castro from the Cubs in December for Adam Warren.
Relegated to being Teixeira’s backup and reserve outfielder, Ackley started 10 games at first, six in right field and one as the DH. He batted .148 (9-for-61) with four homers in 28 games.
The first AL All-Star voting results were announced Tuesday, and the Yankees had two position players involved.
Brian McCann was a distant second to Salvador Perez, the leading vote-getter, in the catching race. Carlos Beltran was 11th among outfielders.
Yankees starters have worked at least six innings in 12 of the past 13 starts.
Having lost the first two games of a three-game series the Yankees have now dropped five consecutive series to the Blue Jays.