Yankees injuries are the only thing that can slow team down

Despite beating the Mets 4-1, the Yankees sustained equally concerning injuries to Aaron Judge, Masahiro Tanaka and Aroldis Chapman.

At 41-18, the Yankees are the only team in major league baseball with less than at least 21 losses.  Their .695 win percentage is top of the charts, yet they only sit half a game above the Red Sox for first place in the AL East.

Both good and bad, the Yanks have played five fewer games than the Sox due to a number of rainouts. Unfortunately, the bulk of them will be made up throughout the summer as part of day/night doubleheaders.

Although manager Aaron Boone recently defeated his former employer, ESPN — in which the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” intended to move the Yanks to the Sunday Night Baseball slot on July 8 in Toronto, despite a doubleheader the day before Baltimore, the one thing Boone, nor anyone else can control is injuries.

Which is why watching a trio of all-important Yankees pull up lame on Friday night gives cause for concern.

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In the first inning, Aaron Judge slid into second base, feet first, to break up a double play. Though there was no contact made with Todd Frazier, who was covering second, Judge stood up and winced in pain, shaking his hand as he made his way back to the dugout.

Following the win, Judge was seen in the clubhouse sans any sort of wrap on his thumb (which trainer Steve Donahue did do in-game), so that’s a good sign. Furthermore, Aaron Boone told reporters that Judge was able to take swings in the cage in-between innings and that everything checked out normal in regards to the strength in Judge’s thumb.

However, Judge would actually play a small part in the next injury concern. With one out in the top of the sixth inning and the bases loaded, Judge hit a towering fly ball to right field. It was a certain tag-up situation, even with the likes of Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka on third base.

Somewhere along the 90-feet between third and home, Tanaka’s legs looked to buckle before he crossed home plate for the game-tying run — shades of Chien-Ming Wang injuring himself in 2008 sprinted through my mind.

If this isn’t enough proof as to why pitchers shouldn’t bat, and therefore run the bases, I don’t know what is. Yes, they are athletes, but they’re conditioned way differently than everyday players.

National League purists will forever support pitchers batting — that the managerial strategy that goes into late game lineup changes is what makes baseball great — but it’s antiquated.

Less than a month ago, the Mets thought they lost their ace Jacob deGrom to a severe hyperextension of his throwing elbow while swinging the bat. As if pitchers don’t come with enough risk as it is, do we really need to watch them get hurt doing something they don’t get paid millions of dollars to do?

The answer is no. Mini-rant over.

Walking back to the dugout, you could see Tanaka shake his head in extreme discomfort. We soon learned that he was experiencing pain in not one, but both of his hamstrings. Postgame, Boone let in be known that Masa received intravenous fluids and would be reevaluated on Saturday.

Anytime the word “reevaluated” is connected to Tanaka, Yankee fans hold their breath. With Jordan Montgomery already out for the season following Tommy John surgery, the last thing the Yanks need is another void to be filled in the starting rotation.

Then there is the curious case of closer Aroldis Chapman. In the bottom of the ninth, Chapman grimaced as he bounced off the mound to back up third base on Michael Conforto’s flyout to center field.

Trainer Steve Donahue was back at it again — and even though Chapman stayed in to secure the save, it doesn’t take a medical degree to see something was affecting him.

As it turns out, Chapman later told reporters he’s been dealing with tendinitis in his left knee for about three weeks, but that the pain was worse on Friday than before.

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For the time being, Chapman hopes to pitch through the pain. However, we’re only in June, so I’m not sure how practical that course of action will be. One thing is certain, the notion of Dellin Betances filling in as the closer for any length of time makes my stomach hurt.