Yankees' Ron Marinaccio Exits Game With Injury Scare
For a moment on Sunday, during the Yankees' final regular season game at Yankee Stadium in 2022, it looked like New York was losing another key piece of their bullpen to an injury.
Reliever Ron Marinaccio, who has been so reliable and often dominant this season, walked slowly off the mound during his appearance in the eighth inning, escorted to the dugout by a trainer.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed after the game that Marinaccio is managing some soreness in his right shin, something he's been dealing with off and on all season long.
"It was just bothering him a little bit more today while he's pitching," Boone told reporters after a 3-1 loss to the Orioles. "So we just wanted to get him out of there, didn't want to mess with it too much."
Marinaccio added that it's been a lingering issue, something he associated with the wear and tear of a long season. He didn't seem concerned about the possibility that it would impact his availability for the postseason.
Boone added that Marinaccio will go through imaging on the shin (as he has earlier in the year) to make sure there's nothing else going on other than the soreness. There's a chance Marinaccio is shut down for the rest of the regular season—New York has four more games before the postseason begins—but Boone said that will be a decision that the training staff makes depending on the results of an MRI.
"We're going to see what we have and see where we are with it tomorrow," Boone said. "If we feel like we need to do that, then we will."
Marinaccio has been a revelation this year, a rookie that's quickly showing he has the potential to be a fixture in the back of this club's bullpen for years to come. Factoring in his injury-shortened outing on Sunday, the 27-year-old has a 2.05 ERA across 40 games. He's struck out 56 batters over 46 innings, earning more high-leverage spots as the year has progressed.
With a banged-up bullpen, New York needs Marinaccio to be healthy for the playoffs. Closer Clay Holmes has been shut down for the rest of the year with a shoulder issue, Wandy Peralta is currently working back from the injured list, Zack Britton's season is over after his unsuccessful return from Tommy John surgery and there are question marks looming over other healthy relievers (namely Aroldis Chapman) when it comes to effectiveness.
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