The Yankees will be without Luke Voit until after the All-Star break after the first baseman was put on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with an abdominal strain suffered in Saturday’s win over the Red Sox in London.
Voit left that game after injuring himself while running out a double and didn’t play Sunday, but the Yankees still hoped he wouldn’t need an IL stint. Instead, they shelved another player, retroactive to Sunday.
Before the Yankees’ 4-2 loss to the Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday, Aaron Boone said Edwin Encarnacion and DJ LeMahieu would likely get most of the time at first base in Voit’s absence. Encarnacion started there Tuesday.
Boone said he was also hopeful Voit would be back against Toronto immediately following the break.
“Even the Sunday game in London, he was out doing his ground balls and hit and felt pretty good,’’ Boone said of the severity of Voit’s injury. “But when we did the MRI (exam) and there was the low-grade strain in there, we just feel like it’s something we don’t want to hurt any worse.”
Mike Ford was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Voit’s spot on the roster. Logan Morrison, who signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in April, had a July 1 opt-out date if he wasn’t in the majors and requested his release on Tuesday.
Morrison hit well with SWB, with 15 homers and a .999 OPS in 143 plate appearances, but he wasn’t on the 40-man roster and Kendrys Morales cleared waivers and was released.
Domingo German is set to rejoin the rotation Wednesday against the Mets at Citi Field after being on the IL with a left hip flexor strain. Boone added he expects J.A. Happ to pitch in Tampa Bay on Thursday, followed by Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and James Paxton.
With five healthy starters, Boone has no plans to continue using Chad Green — or anyone else — as an opener on a regular basis, but wouldn’t rule out using one occasionally in the future.
“It’s possible we do that from time to time,’’ Boone said. “We’ve had some success with that. But with [Green], we like having him available at our disposal.”
Chance Adams was also optioned to Triple-A on Tuesday, with Nestor Cortes Jr. called up.
LeMahieu was named AL Player of the Week after going 15-for-24 with eight runs with six extra-base hits in five games.