The Yankees moved Fernando Cruz to the 15-day injured list Wednesday before even scanning his elbow, concerned enough that they felt he would require a break regardless of the MRI exam results.
The results represented a worst fear.
Cruz has a partial tear of his UCL, manager Aaron Boone said, and will seek further opinions.
But Tommy John surgery is on the table, which typically follows such a diagnosis.
The 35-year-old Cruz is out of the picture for 2026 and potentially for all of 2027, too, a blow to the team and a blow to a reliever who has both found himself and a home in The Bronx.
Something had clearly been wrong with Cruz, who was often dominant in his first year in pinstripes (striking out 72 in 48 innings) and was enjoying an even better follow-up season before hitting a wall in mid-July. After letting up the two-run home run to Jeremy Peña on Tuesday, he had given up nine earned runs in his previous 13 ²/₃ innings.
After the loss, Cruz met with trainer Tim Lentych at his locker and walked out with Lentych after talking with media. At the time, Cruz denied that there was any physical issue.
This offseason Cruz will enter his second season of arbitration and is under team control through 2028. If he successfully returns in 2028, the righty would be playing at 38.
Ryan McMahon is eligible to be activated from the IL on Sunday and could be ready then, but it is possible the Yankees wait until Tuesday, when the club can add a position player and pitcher.
“We might take it a couple extra days just with September 1st being around the corner,” Boone said before the Yankees’ 9-3 win over the Astros at the Stadium. “He might even play in a couple of rehab games prior to that. “But he’s trending in a good way.”
McMahon ran in the outfield before the game and has been taking ground balls at third.
Even on the day the Yankees placed him on the IL, McMahon had taken swings indoors with a Grade 2 thumb sprain.
An excellent defender, McMahon had started the season as an offensive liability but improved, posting a .731 OPS with seven home runs in his previous 61 games before the injury.
Without McMahon, José Caballero, who went 1-for-4 with a strikeout in the Yankees’ win on Wednesday, has received the bulk of work at third base and is just 2-for-21 in six games in the span.
Max Fried remains an option for one end of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Red Sox, which would mean he would have been sidelined for the minimum 15 days.
Fried is scheduled to throw a side session Thursday, and the Yankees will wait to see how he handles that before making a decision.
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Aaron Judge, who hit Tuesday and has begun ramping up his baseball activity, threw in the outfield before the game.
Among the many roster moves the Yankees made on a day Cruz was placed on the IL and Elmer Rodríguez was activated, the club optioned Bradley Hanner, who allowed three runs in his first four major league innings.
Before the game, the Yankees held a moment of silence for Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at 80.
