Fernando Cruz was placed on the injured list Wednesday with right elbow discomfort.
Cruz recently noted that his elbow has been bothering him for about three weeks, and he finally decided to let the team know since it was hurting the team as a whole. An MRI revealed a partially torn UCL, and Aaron Boone confirmed that surgery is on the table.
"Right now, diagnosed with a partial tear of the UCL," manager Aaron Boone said on Wednesday. "He's going to go through and get second opinions and stuff. That's what we got right now."
"That would be on the table, year," Boone said when asked if Tommy John surgery was on the table. "We'll get other opinions, but that's certainly on the table."
Cruz has been a key part of the bullpen ever since joining the Yankees. He has a 3.33 ERA in 110 games over the last two seasons and has a 3.13 ERA in 61 games this year. His ERA has gone up 0.62 points this month, coinciding with his elbow discomfort.
“If it’s the worst, if it’s the minimum, if it’s whatever, I’m ready for it,” Cruz told New York Daily News' Gary Phillips. “I think it happened to the right guy. Everything that happened, I think it has a purpose. I live by a purpose. I don’t live just to breathe. So obviously, (Wednesday) was a tough day. We have emotions. We have flesh. I cried. I was emotional about it, but at the end of the day, I trust the one up there more than anything, and I know he has a purpose in this.”
Cruz's decision to tell them alone says a ton about him as well. If they do lose him for the year, it will be nearly impossible to replace his impact as a teammate as well as a pitcher.
“I know the best is yet to come in terms of my health, in terms of my performance,” Cruz said. “I made the decision to make this known because I knew I was affecting the New York Yankees. I wasn’t affecting Fernando Cruz. Obviously, the MRI came back in a way that nobody wants, nobody expected, but it’s just part of this game.”