Fernando Cruzs IL stay leaves Yankees with massive October void to fill

With Fernando Cruz, the Yankees have seen the kind of regression and now injury that they hoped — and arguably needed — to avoid when they did not add (and actually subtracted) from their bullpen at the trade deadline.The normally reliable and high-octane righty, who entered play on July 19 with a 2.20 ERA and has pitched to a 5.93 ERA since, was shelved with right elbow discomfort Wednesday even before the Yankees had pored over his MRI exam results and knew the severity.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

“We’ll see what we have and then attack it from there,” manager Aaron Boone said of Cruz, who was dented again in Tuesday’s loss and has created an even larger void in the Yankees bullpen.David Bednar, Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick have been a remarkable trio (but there are workload concerns for each).Tim Hill has had his struggles but been overwhelming against lefties, so he also is likely a fixture for a playoff roster.Beyond those four relievers, though?“There’s a couple of spots semi up for grabs now with some guys going down and some opportunities created,” Boone acknowledged before playing the Astros in The Bronx.Out of contention are Camilo Doval and Jake Bird, who were shipped out at a trade deadline that was expected to see bullpen reinforcements but did not.

Now out of contention is Kervin Castro, who pitched well (one run in 6 ⅓ innings) before being sidelined by right elbow neuritis that might require surgery, Boone said, which prompted the righty to be shifted to the 60-day IL.In contention for important October innings out of the bullpen are:Clarke Schmidt: Recovering from Tommy John surgery, the righty is attempting to complete a comeback that would finish in the Yankees bullpen rather than rotation.Schmidt, whose journey back to the mound had been paused by a forearm issue, threw a live batting practice Tuesday that s...