Oswaldo Cabrera’s road to recovery has begun, though it is unlikely to get him back on the field again this season.
The Yankees beloved utilityman underwent successful ankle surgery on Thursday after suffering a broken ankle in a gruesome play at the plate on Monday night in Seattle.
The procedure also revealed some ligament damage, manager Aaron Boone said Friday, which is likely to add to his timeline for a return.
“I would say probably unlikely [he returns this season], but we probably won’t know until a week, 10 days in to where we get the doctors’ protocols and then the ramp up as you go,” Boone said before the Yankees’ 6-2 win over the Mets on Friday. “It was a little more involved in there, but all things considered, fairly successful, too.”
Cabrera announced that he had undergone surgery on Thursday via social media.
He called Monday “such a sad night” that initially left him with “many negative thoughts” after the brutal injury occurred.
But he said the outpouring of support he received from family, friends, fans, agents, coaches and teammates put a “big smile” on his face.
“My return to the field begins today,” Cabrera wrote in the post. “Thanks to you, I feel more motivated than ever. So, with the strength I’ve always had and all this beautiful energy that you all give to me, I tell you that I will return, and I will return even stronger to continue giving my best every day. I LOVE U.”
A number of Yankees players and staffers, including Aaron Judge, Anthony Volpe and Boone, went to visit Cabrera in the hospital late Monday night before he was discharged.
Cabrera’s teammates were distraught and crushed when he was taken off the field in an ambulance but gained some solace when they saw him in good spirits later that night or Tuesday morning in the hotel lobby before he flew back to New York.
“Maybe it’s because it’s only after going through something like this that you realize the love that surrounds us,” Cabrera wrote. “And TODAY, after a successful surgery with an excellent medical team and God, with my parents, my fiancée and my agent, my heart full of love, I want to THANK YOU ALL. Thank you for worrying about me, for every message, for keeping me in your prayers, for making me feel so supported. This is something that my family and I will never forget!”
Jazz Chisholm Jr. (oblique strain) is feeling so good that he thinks it might only be another week and a half or two weeks until he returns.
Then again, he did not think he was going to need an injured list stint in the first place, so take that with a grain of salt.
“It’s definitely him being optimistic, which is his nature, which I love about him,” Boone said. “But he is doing really well and seems to be tolerating everything well. So even for having a high-level strain in there, he was fairly asymptomatic, really from jump. So continue to ramp him up.”
Chisholm took ground balls at second base early Friday afternoon and then hit balls flipped to him in the cage.
He has also been running and throwing, with Friday marking his highest-intensity day at about 60-70 percent, he said.
“Now it’s just going through it, making sure it feels better and better every day and keep on going through the motions until it’s time to go,” Chisholm said.
The Yankees activated Clayton Beeter (shoulder) off the IL and optioned him to Triple-A.
The reliever could make his way back to the Yankees before long if he continues to throw the ball well.
The Yankees made a minor trade Friday, sending lefty reliever Rob Zastryzny to the Brewers in exchange for cash considerations.
