Yankees: Justin Wilson’s IL stint makes Aaron Boone’s decision look even worse

The New York Yankees suffered their worst loss of the season on Friday, as they faltered in walk off fashion against the lowly Detroit Tigers courtesy of a two-run home run that was slugged mere seconds after a blown strike three call that would’ve ended the game.

Up until the 10th inning, the story of the game was the Yankees offense, which finished an embarrassing 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Once we hit extra innings, however, Aaron Boone’s decision to go with Justin Wilson, who’s been a nightmare signing thus far for New York, instead of rolling with Aroldis Chapman for a second inning took centerstage and it immediately backfired.

Unfortunately for Boone, his widely-questioned decision looks even worse now following the Yankees’ latest slew of transactions. Wilson, who battled shoulder tightness early in the season, has been placed on the injured list with a right hamstring strain.

Justin Wilson hitting the injured list with a hamstring strain makes Aaron Boone’s decision on Friday night look even worse.

So…now we have another excuse for Wilson’s fastball velocity being down? Both Boone and the veteran left-hander addressed this after the game, but there was no mention of hamstring tightness. Wilson even went as far as to say his shoulder wasn’t bothering him.

Want to feel even worse about the defeat, Yankees fans? Shortly after Boone confirmed that Wilson is headed to the IL, he disclosed the 33-year-old has been dealing with hamstring tightness for the last few weeks (!).

Asking a reliever who had an ERA pushing 6.00 — it’s now 6.08, by the way — to preserve a one-run lead in extra innings was already a massive gamble from Boone.

Doing so while knowing Wilson wasn’t 100% (hamstrings are kind of vital to a pitcher’s mechanics) and after Chapman breezed through the ninth on just 14 pitches, is indefensible. And no, we don’t want to hear the excuse that Boone didn’t want to overuse Chapman after he missed a game earlier this week with an illness.

There was simply no reason to trot a compromised Wilson out there. Perhaps Boone thought he  could steal an inning against one of MLB’s worst teams, but we’re talking about the consensus worst pitcher on the roster this season, and it’s not even close.

Why not put Wilson on the injured list a few weeks ago, you know, when he first realized his hamstring wasn’t 100%? Since it clearly isn’t a serious injury, he likely would’ve activated by now…not that deserves to keep his spot on the roster, but still.

As if losing another Gerrit Cole start wasn’t enough. As if watching the Yankees offense be rendered useless against the Tigers’ bullpen wasn’t demoralizing enough, fans have just been informed that the pitcher who blew the game was dealing with a freaking hamstring.

Fortunately for Yankees fans, there’s a silver lining to be had in all this: things possibly can’t get any worse than Friday night. It only gets better from here, or so we think.

Yankees: 3 Tigers trade targets to keep an eye on this series

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