Yankees' Cody Bellinger dealing with a heel issue
TORONTO — The Yankees didn’t come out of their Wild Card Series victory over the Red Sox completely unscathed.
Leftfielder Cody Bellinger was noticeably limping toward the end of the Yankees' series-clinching 4-0 victory Thursday night at the Stadium — the result, manager Aaron Boone said, of “reaggravating” an issue in his left heel while rounding third and scoring a fourth-inning run in that game — and could be at least somewhat hampered in the Division Series against the Blue Jays.
“He's doing better. The last couple days, he's gotten a lot of treatment and [it’s] gone pretty well,” Boone said before Saturday’s ALDS Game 1, in which Bellinger started in left and batted third. “I expect him to be good. I expect him to be fast. I'm sure we'll see him limping a little bit when he's decelerating and things like that. You know, it's a pain thing on that heel, but I feel like he should be good to go. I think he's definitely seen some improvement here over the last 48 hours.”
Bellinger, expected to hit the free-agent market after the season when he declines to exercise his player option for $25 million (re-signing him will be an offseason priority for the Yankees), hit .272 with 29 homers, 25 doubles, five triples, 98 RBIs and an .813 OPS in 152 games.
Bellinger, an above-average defender at all three outfield positions as well as first base, went 3-for-12 (.250) with a double in the Wild Card Series.
Will the injury affect Bellinger at the plate? “I don’t think so,” Boone said. “He looked fine hitting yesterday [during Friday’s workout].”
No Dominguez anytime soon
Because of the consistent production put forth by the Yankees’ starting outfield of Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge, playing time came sporadically for Jasson Dominguez, especially in the second half.
It dried up completely in the Wild Card Series when the 22-year-old switch hitter did not get an at-bat. Barring an injury, he won’t see the field much in this series, even with the numbers he put up this season against the Blue Jays: .371 (13-for-35) with a .992 OPS in nine games (eight starts).
“You never know when he could play a big role, because he’s certainly capable,” Boone said. “But I don’t necessarily expect him to start over our three guys out there.”
No Bichette a potential Yankees break
Bo Bichette, who hit .311 this season in making a run at the AL batting title that Judge eventually won with a .331 average, suffered a left knee sprain while sliding home against the Yankees in early September and was left off of Toronto’s ALDS roster.
“Just didn't have basically enough time to get him ready,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said early Saturday afternoon. “He's continuing to make progress. He's going to continue to do everything he can to get ready if we do advance. He's got to get running a little bit, hit some velo, hopefully see some live pitching. But the timing just wasn't right for him right now.”
Likely not a coincidence, the Blue Jays' best hitter, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., slumped tremendously down the stretch after Bichette went down. Guerrero did not hit a home run in his final 89 plate appearances of the regular season before going deep against Luis Gil in the first inning of ALDS Game 1.
“Obviously a great hitter that was really swinging well this year,” Boone said of Bichette. “Shortens their lineup a little bit, but it’s a well-built roster. Similar to Boston, they play the platoon game aggressively in and around a couple of their stars, [George] Springer and Vladdy obviously. But if you bring in a lefty, they’re going to have some good righty matchups; you bring in a righty, they’re going to have their good lefty, so they do a good job with that.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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