Yankees put Fernando Cruz on IL, sign Michael Fulmer with bullpen worries mounting
The Yankees have lost another key arm in a bullpen that does not have many.Fernando Cruz was moved to the injured list Wednesday with what the club called “right elbow discomfort” after his latest blowup that helped lead to a loss on Tuesday.The severity of the injury was not immediately publicly known.Among the roster shuffling that followed was signing veteran Michael Fulmer to a major league deal and immediately activating the righty.
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On Tuesday, he walked a batter and then served up a two-run home run to Jeremy Peña in the fifth inning.This is the kind of regression and injury that Brian Cashman & Co.hoped to avoid when they did not add (and actually subtracted) from the bullpen at the trade deadline.David Bednar, Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick have been a remarkable trio, but there are workload concerns for each and little reliable help behind them.There are several possible and eventual reinforcements but none is a sure-thing.The Yankees would love to see how Ryan Weathers’ stuff plays out of the bullpen, but the lefty is on the IL and amid a no-throw period with a flexor strain His return is not guaranteed.Clarke Schmidt returned to mound in The Bronx on Tuesday, throwing a live batting practice that could lead to a rehab assignment, but the righty is coming off Tommy John surgery and more used to starting.Luis Gil has performed well out of the bullpen with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but he has not be...