Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran has a bone spur in his right elbow that might require surgery, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. Beltran will receive a cortisone shot and wait to see how it responds before he and the team make a decision, per Hoch.
Carlos Beltran injury: Yankees OF may need surgery to remove bone spur
The Yankees are having all sorts of injury issues, with Carlos Beltran being the latest victim.
Elsa
Beltran began feeling the effects of the bone spur on Monday against the Mets. The 37-year-old veteran went 0-for-3 in that game before requesting a replacement, notes Hoch. He was not in the lineup against his former team on Tuesday.
The Yankees signed Beltran to a three-year, $45 million deal as part of their offseason spending spree which also netted Jacoby Ellsbury, Masahiro Tanaka and Brian McCann, to name a few. Each of those players has remained relatively healthy, but several of New York's key stalwarts -- most notably CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Mark Teixeira and David Robertson -- are currently, or have spent time, on the disabled list in 2014.
Beltran is off to a slow start, hitting .234/.286/.430 through 140 plate appearances. He’s coming off of consecutive seasons with a sub-.350 on-base percentage, but Beltran slugged nearly .500 in each season, resulting in OPS+ totals of 128 and 127.
Being a well-above-average hitter has never been a problem for Beltran; he’s posted an OPS+ of more than 100 in all but one season since 2001. However, staying on the field hasn’t always been his strength. Beltran has appeared in 150 or more games only twice since 2005, and he missed a combined 179 games in 2009 and 2010.
If Beltran is forced to miss significant time, rostered players ranging from Kelly Johnson to Zoilo Almonte, who was recalled on Tuesday when reliever Shawn Kelley was placed on the DL, will likely see an increase in workload. Beyond that, New York doesn't have a lot of options in terms of impact guys that can step in and adequately fill the shoes of Beltran, particularly with Ichiro Suzuki dealing with injury issues of his own. If Ichiro is forced into a DL stint, Ramon Flores -- who is hitting .254/.364/.421 in Triple-A -- could be next in line for a call-up, notes Pinstripe Alley's Jason Cohen.
See More:
