New York Yankees Late Night News & Notes: Injuries and Minor Leagues

Just because the Yankees were off tonight, doesn’t mean that nothing was going on with them. Let’s take a look at some news and notes as we are past 11 o’clock on the east coast.

Apr. 16, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher

(62) bows his head during the national anthem before the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Add Joba To The Shelf: Joba Chamberlain is the latest Yankee to join the ranks of the disabled list. Chamberlain felt pain in his oblique while warming up Tuesday. He was unavailable Wednesday and went for tests today which showed the strain. The Yankees will call up an arm to replace him before friday’s game against the Oakland Athletics. Sam Demel could be the guy called up. He’s 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA.

In Tampa: Alex Rodriguez has been cleared for baseball activities beginning on Monday. This isn’t an accelerated return and the earliest he’ll come back is the All-Star Break. Mark Teixeira will start training as well in Tampa on Monday. He’s begun to hit off a tee. Michael Pineda threw in Tampa today and hit 95 MPH on the gun. Pineda could be the best arm any contender gets down the stretch.

Minor League Update: Let’s see where the minor league teams stand. Scranton is third in the International League North Division. They are 14-11 and three games out of first. Trenton is 15-12, two games out of the division lead in the east. Charlestion is 13-12, and fifth in the South League Southern Division. Tampa is 11-14 and next to last in the FSL North division, but are only four games out of first place.