The second half of Luke Voit’s 2021 season will begin much like the first half: with the Yankees first baseman on the injured list.
At a time when the Yankees had already been beaten up after they placed six players on the COVID-19 injured list, Voit landed back on the regular 10-day IL Friday for the third time this season — this one for inflammation in his left knee. That’s the same knee on which he had surgery to repair a torn meniscus during spring training.
“Had some swelling over the weekend and then had that drained, but there was still some lingering pain there,” manager Aaron Boone said Friday before the Yankees hosted the Red Sox. “[He] was diagnosed with the bone bruise, will probably get some kind of PRP [platelet-rich plasma injection] potentially tonight and then hopefully a few days of rest, then hopefully get going from there.”
Voit missed the first 34 games of the season recovering from the knee surgery, came back to play in 12 games and then went back on the IL for a month with a strained oblique, before returning in late June.
In 29 games overall, Voit is hitting just .241 with three home runs and a .698 OPS, a year after leading the majors in homers.
“This is not something that is overly common, but is something that can happen,” Boone said. “I don’t think they’re overly concerned that it’s a recurring or structural thing. I think he’s just dealing with a bone bruise.”
Voit was also recently hit by a pitch on the knee, but Boone said the bone bruise is not related to that.
First baseman Chris Gittens was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to fill in for Voit and was in the lineup Friday, batting seventh, against the Red Sox. The call-up is the second of the 27-year-old Gittens’ career; he hit 2-for-21 with a home run and nine strikeouts in 10 games earlier this season.
Voit’s IL stint was backdated to July 13, making him eligible to be activated as early as next Friday, when the Yankees will play at Boston, but Boone was noncommittal.
“Hopefully a few days of rest and he starts to really see the improvement,” Boone said. “I don’t want to put a timetable on it yet, but we’re at least optimistic.”