The Yankees placed third baseman Ryan McMahon on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to August 20, with a sprained left thumb. Max Schuemann is up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take his place on the active roster.
McMahon made an early exit from Wednesday’s win over Baltimore. He hit an RBI single in the second inning. He was cut down trying to stretch it into a double and jammed his thumb sliding into second base. He tried to play through the injury but was lifted for pinch-hitter José Caballero in the eighth.
It’s not expected to be a long-term absence. McMahon told reporters (including Jorge Castillo of ESPN) that it’s a Grade 2 sprain and he hopes to be back after a minimal stint. Manager Aaron Boone confirmed that’s the team’s expectation as well (via Brendan Kuty of The Athletic). Caballero will probably be the primary third baseman for the next week and a half. He’s at second base with Amed Rosario at the hot corner and Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the bench tonight, as the Blue Jays are starting left-handed opener Mason Fluharty.
This is McMahon’s second injured list stint of the season. He also had a minimal stay in June due to a throat infection. He’s a steady hand defensively but hasn’t seen the offensive jump the club was hoping at Yankee Stadium. McMahon has a .216/.282/.367 slash with 10 home runs over 306 plate appearances in his first season in pinstripes.
It’s moderately surprising the Yankees opted for Schuemann instead of recalling Anthony Volpe. That could be related to the looming return of Cody Bellinger, who’s rehabbing in Triple-A and may be activated at some point during the Toronto series. That was initially likely to push Spencer Jones off the roster, but the Yankees could option Schuemann back instead. If that’s the plan, it makes more sense to let Volpe continue playing regularly in Scranton and build reps at second base. McMahon will be out until at least August 30, so the Yankees could wait to activate him until they get the extra active roster spot on September 1.
