Pitcher placed on season ending list to add to teams injury woes.
The New York Yankees, already hammered by injuries, received another blow on Thursday when pitcher Joba Chamberlain was placed on Major League Baseball’s disabled list with a right oblique muscle strain.
In 9 1/3 innings pitched in 10 appearances this season, Chamberlain is 0-0 with a 3.86 earned-run average. The 27-year-old right-hander has not pitched since tossing a scoreless ninth inning Saturday to earn a save against Toronto.
Chamberlain has struck out seven batters and walked six in a relief role. His stint on the 15-day disabled list will be retroactive to Sunday.
The Yankees now have almost $100 million in team payroll on the disabled list, including stars Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira plus Curtis Granderson, Kevin Youkilis, Francisco Cervelli, Michael Pineda and Ivan Nova.
Yankees general manger Brian Cashman said the Yankees were “looking at sometime after the All-Star break” in July for the return of shortstop Jeter, the 38-year-old team captain recovering from a broken left ankle.
Third baseman Rodriguez, 37, is recovering from off-season hip surgery.
Despite the setbacks, the Yankees are 17-10 and only two games behind the arch-rival Boston Red Sox for the American League East division lead after the first month of the six-month North American season.
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