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Yankees send Jon Berti to IL, bring familiar reliever back before Game 2 in Cleveland

Big-time shuffle for the night game.
Adam Weinrib
Adam Weinrib

Yanks Go Yard

Kansas City Royals v New York Yankees / Al Bello/GettyImages

Somehow, Yankees utility infielder Jon Berti managed to injure his midsection, which appears to be a rite of passage in the Bronx these days. Hmm. How'd that happen? Did he head-long dive at any poin - oh. Yeah. That could've been it.

Other than that game-saving stop in Houston, Berti hasn't gotten himself together early this season or been on base enough to show off his wheels. At his best, he's a rock-solid bench addition. Unfortunately, early on in 2024, he's mostly been viewed as a reason Oswaldo Cabrera isn't playing.

Berti will head to the IL with what was initially called an "adductor issue" on Saturday, then became a left groin strain when the Yankees announced it; he'll be replaced by lifelong Yankee fan/Long Island native Kevin Smith. It's nice to see him get a shot with the big club, though not in an ideal context.

Yankees send Jon Berti to IL, promote Ron Marinaccio

In this instance, Berti's time off his feet will allow the Yankees to ride the hot hand in Cabrera a little long. DJ LeMahieu appears to be on the road to recovery; Smith will act as insurance until then.

Also returning, notably, is Ron Marinaccio. Josh Maciejewski's Yankees career consists of a clean ninth inning against Miami, as of now, but Marinaccio's has a bit more color. He was the young darling of the Yankees bullpen in 2022, striking out 56 in 44 innings before succumbing to a shin fracture just before the postseason.

Last year, things didn't go quite so well. He struck out 56 men, just as he had the year before. He walked 27, as opposed to 24 the previous year. Instead of escaping unscathed, though, he allowed six homers (vs. a pair in 2022) and 35 hits, posting a 3.99 ERA. Things got even worse in Scranton; he allowed 16 runs (15 earned) in 15 1/3 innings, walking 18 men.

Now, the Yankees will get a chance to see up close if he's turned a corner to begin 2024. Five one-hit Triple-A innings across three outings marred by just a single walk? That could certainly play in back of Cody Poteet on Saturday evening.

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib

Adam Weinrib is a Content Director on the FanSided network, and has been the co-editor at Yanks Go Yard for 6 years. He also co-hosts The Baseball Insiders Podcast thrice weekly, alongside FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray, as well as the Yanks Go Yard Podcast. Previously, he was a Senior Editor at 12up.com, and has been covering MLB and NFL for 10 years. He was also a headline and features contributor at ClickHole and Onion Sports, as well as the Associate Producer of the ESPN 30 for 30 film "Believeland". An avowed fan of the New York sports teams -- specifically the Yankees -- as well as the North Carolina Tar Heels, you can find Adam complaining mid-game on Twitter, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn if the game goes really poorly.