Yankees: Mike Tauchman likely out for the rest of the season with a Grade 2 calf strain

Mike Tauchman’s breakout rookie season with the Yankees could be over after he was diagnosed with a Grade 2 calf strain on Monday. According to skipper Aaron Boone, he’ll be out for the next six to eight weeks so it’s unlikely he’ll be able to return during the postseason.

Losing Tauchman this late into the season really stinks for the team, but mostly for him. Up until the final week of Spring Training, he wasn’t even on the Yankees roster but he turned out to be one of their top unsung heroes. Without his contributions, this team wouldn’t be tied for the best record in baseball entering play today.

Even with Tauchman out the Yankees are deep enough with outfielders that they should be ok without him for the rest of the regular season. However, come October he is certainly going to be missed. With the uncertainty surrounding the returns of Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks, he was going to have a role to play this postseason whether that was as a starter or off the bench. Now that he’s out his spot on the roster is probably Cameron Maybin’s for the taking which would be a downgrade on both sides of the ball, albeit a slight one.

Maybin has also been battling a lingering left wrist issue over the past couple of weeks that could require offseason surgery. He should be able to play through the injury from here on out but prior to replacing Tauchman Sunday night, he hadn’t had an at-bat since August 28th. He finished the game 1 for 2 but he followed that up with a 0 for 4, three strikeout performance Monday night.

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Moving forward we should see a lot more of Maybin, Clint Frazier and even Tyler Wade according to Boone. If Frazier can pick up where he left off offensively before his demotion in June we could see a lot of him down the stretch, but he’ll need to show that his defense has improved if he wants to be considered for a postseason roster spot.

As for Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees suddenly need him back in the lineup more than ever. The expectation right now is he’ll be back at some point during the Yankees final homestand of the season which starts on September 17th. Stanton has only played in nine games all season so he’s going to need a lot of reps to shake the rust off before the playoffs begin.

It would be huge for him and the Yanks if he can return on the 17th because after that there are only 11 games left in the regular season so he’s running out of time to get at-bats.