Yankees Luke Voit progressing; may need offseason surgery

BOSTON, MA - JULY 25: Luke Voit #45 of the New York Yankees is walked in for a run in the second inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on July 25, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - JULY 25: Luke Voit #45 of the New York Yankees is walked in for a run in the second inning of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on July 25, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

The Yankees don’t get much good news when it comes to the injury front, but it appears Luke Voit will for now avoid sports hernia surgery — with an eye towards soon beginning a rehab assignment.

The Yankees weren’t optimistic when first baseman Luke Voit was placed on the injured list with a sports hernia on July 31. After all, the slugger had been dealing with the effects of the painful injury since July 2 when he first hit the IL with what the club deemed an abdominal strain.

Misdiagnosis or misdirection by Yankee doctors, it wouldn’t be the first time a player has been quoted as having a particular ailment, only to have it soon after clarified. This has been an in-house problem for far too long and needs to be remedied.

Anyway, prior to Game 1 of the Yanks’ doubleheader versus the Orioles on Monday, Voit took part in agility drills, including sprints under the supervision of trainer Matt Krause.

With a favorable report from Krause, Voit told Brendan Kuty of NJ.com that he feels 100 percent — and that this week will be crucial as he looks to begin hitting off a tee on Tuesday and doing typical baseball activities after that.

In regards to the remaining possibility of going under the knife to remedy his sports hernia surgery (because it won’t just heal itself), it’s not something currently on Voit’s mind.

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"“Potentially,” Voit said about offseason surgery. “I’m not really worried about that right now. We’ll see how I feel this week and hopefully in a few weeks I’ll be back playing. Obviously, that’s definitely something that’s on the horizon for sure.”"

Voit admitted that he did indeed come back too soon from the IL, the first time he experienced pain. However, he cited Brett Gardner, who suffered the same injury in 2014 and was able to stave off surgery until the following offseason.

Hopefully, Voit can do the same, and return to action within a few weeks as the 28-year-old has continued much success in his first full season in pinstripes. In 94 games (416 plate appearances), Voit is slashing .278/.392/.493 with 60 runs, 16 doubles, 19 homers and 58 RBIs.

If all goes well the remainder of this week, manager Aaron Boone believes a rehab assignment could be in the cards for Voit a short time from now.

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