Yankees: Luke Voit is expected to begin a rehab assignment on Friday

After Luke Voit went down with a sports hernia injury on July 30th the Yankees feared that he might need surgery which likely would’ve kept him out for at least the rest of the regular season. However, after going through some agility drills last week he’s apparently feeling much better and the plan now is for him to join Triple-A Scranton on Monday and begin a rehab assignment on Friday.

This is very encouraging for the Yankees as they continue to get a lot of positive news on the injury front. Losing Vote for the rest of the season seemed like a realistic possibility when he was placed on the IL 19 days ago, but now that he’s resumed workouts there’s definitely reason for optimism.

Even though the Yankees have continued their winning ways over the past couple of weeks Voit’s absence in the lineup certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed. Neither has the absence of DH Edwin Encarnacion who fractured his wrist just three days after Voit got hurt. With both their primary first basemen and DH on the IL, the Yanks have given rookie Mike Ford a lot more playing time of late but he’s struggled in August hitting .146 with a .354 SLG %.

The Yankees depth has been tested all season long and the guys who have filled in have done an outstanding job for the most part, but right now Ford isn’t really getting it done. It’s a small sample size of at-bats (48), but with the timetable for Encarnacion’s return still somewhat unclear, the Yanks would obviously like to get Voit back as soon as possible. That being said, first they have to make sure he gets through his rehab assignment without any issues.

This is Voit’s second stint on the IL this season after he suffered an injury to his ab/core area during the Londons series against Boston. Since it happened right before the All-Star break he only missed eight games but he might have been rushed back too soon because after he returned his power numbers took a dip and he got injured again 17 days later.

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In all likelihood, the sports hernia injury was related to the previous ab injury which is concerning. Voit was able to avoid surgery for now but he’ll probably end up undergoing surgery to get everything cleaned up once the season ends.

If he comes back sometime soon there’s a chance he could reinjure himself and then he’d definitely be out for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.

It’s a risk I’m sure Voit is willing to take and one the Yankees seem comfortable taking at the moment. You really can’t blame them because they’re a better team when his bat is in the lineup and they’ll need him come October.