For most of the spring, the Yankees have avoided the injury bug. Aside from Jacoby Ellsbury starting the season on the disabled list, all of the Yankees’ essential players worked through spring training without a concern. That luck fell apart recently, with Brandon Drury getting plunked on his elbow and Greg Bird suffering from inflammation in his foot.
Neither player has a timetable to return just yet, but the Yankees have to plow ahead without them as the season starts on Thursday. Having two starting-caliber infielders out for any amount of time is an unfortunate situation, but the Yankees have a quality fallback option many teams don’t in Neil Walker.