File photo shows New York Yankees starter Phil Hughes pitching against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida, March 4, 2008. Hughes has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained side muscle.
(REUTERS/Steve Nesius)
Yankees pitcher Hughes faces long layoff
File photo shows New York Yankees starter Phil Hughes pitching against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida, March 4, 2008. Hughes has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained side muscle.
(REUTERS/Steve Nesius)
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Yankees could be without pitcher Phil Hughes for months after tests revealed he had a fractured rib, the team said on Thursday.
The injury was initially believed to be a strained muscle in his right side, with Hughes being placed on the 15-day disabled list. However, tests showed the young right-hander has a stress fracture of his ninth rib on the right side.
"He's going to be down for four weeks before he can do anything," manager Joe Girardi told reporters before Thursday's game against the Detroit Tigers.
"It's going to take some time. He'll have some more scans in four weeks and we'll see where it's at and we'll go from there."
Hughes said he was shocked when doctors told him he had a stress fracture of his rib.
"I thought they were joking," he told reporters at his locker after the game.
The Yankees will call up right-hander Darrell Rasner from the team's Triple A affiliate to replace Hughes, general manager Brian Cashman told reporters.
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The highly-touted Hughes, the major league's youngest pitcher at 21, has struggled to an 0-4 record with a 9.00 earned run average in six starts this season.
"You don't ever want to see a player get injured because it's hard to improve when you're on the DL," said Girardi, who does not expect Hughes back until July at the earliest. "It is what it is. You deal with it and you move on."
The pitcher joined American League MVP Alex Rodriguez (thigh strain) and All-Star catcher Jorge Posada (shoulder) on the disabled list.
Rodriguez, batting .286 with four home runs and 11 RBIs in 24 games, may be ready to return in two weeks, the club said.
The severity of Posada's injury to his throwing shoulder is not yet clear and the catcher could face a long absence.
Cashman said it was too early to say whether the Yankees (14-16) would need to add a pitcher through trade.
"You always try to fix things from within first," Cashman said. "We'll see if we have the answer from within."
(Writing by Larry Fine; Editing by Ed Osmond)
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