Mike Tauchman Has a Grade 2 Calf Strain And Will Likely Miss The Rest Of The Year
Goddamn man. We all had a good idea there wasn’t going to be a positive update to Mike Tauchman’s leg injury on Monday. Well here it is. Grade 2 calf strain. 6-8 weeks. Pretty much done for the year unless he magically comes back for the World Series. Such a bummer.
Imagine telling yourself back in March that Mike Tauchman being ruled out for the season was actually going to be an issue. Imagine saying that with Mike Tauchman out for the season it’s going to be imperative for Giancarlo Stanton to make his way back. That’s how much Mike Tauchman meant to this team in 2019. Crazy, but that sums up how crazy this season has been in the Bronx.
Tauchman worked his ass off for this shot in 2019, and he was fantastic. Tauchman’s calling card coming in was his defense and he brought that gold glove to the outfield every game. You could plug him into any of the three positions and didn’t need to panic for one second. His bat was slow to start the season, but when he got going he was a one man wrecking crew. His 32 game stretch from early July to late August is one that’ll be featured on the World Series DVD: .387/.455/.726 8 homers 27 RBIs. He was unreal.
The left handed presence he added to the lineup was huge and was going to be huge in October. He deserved to be out there in the postseason. I so badly wanted Tauchman to have a huge playoff game just to see the casual baseball fans look on in pure shock and disbelief at who was carrying the Yankees offense.
So now what? Well left field becomes an issue. Aaron Hicks is not looking like he’ll get back in time which moves Gardy over to center permanently. That leaves Maybin, Stanton, Clint, and Tyler Wade to figure something out. Ideally Stanton and Maybin combine to make it work, but Cam is playing through a wrist injury and Giancarlo is making his way back from 18 different injuries. He’s supposed to be back next week for the final home stand. We’ll see. Could be a big spot for Clint to make an impact.
It’s amazing how the absence of the Sock Man will actually affect this team. Goddamit.