Bad news, folks. After we wondered why Tommy Kahnle didn’t pitch the eighth inning last night, Aaron Boone delivered an ominous postgame update regarding his unavailability. Now, we know exactly what’s wrong.
Tommy Kahnle has forearm tightness. He had an MRI this afternoon and will see Dr. Chris Ahmad this evening, Aaron Boone says.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) July 31, 2020
Things went south after Kahnle absolutely wrecked the Nationals with his changeup on Sunday. Hopefully, this MRI comes back clean and Kahnle can return relatively soon. For the time being, the Yankees’ super bullpen is now two big arms short, with Kahnle joining Aroldis Chapman on the sidelines. Fortunately, Chapman has been cleared to return, but it will take him some time to get back up to speed.
Even without Kahnle, the Yankees are very deep in the bullpen. Zack Britton, Chad Green, and Adam Ottavino are more than capable of handling high leverage innings. Jonathan Loaisiga has shown flashes, too.
More to come, likely after the game when the team has MRI results in hand.
MikeD
Unavailability, shutdown, MRI, DL’d and seeing Dr. Ahmad this evening, all in the span of 24 hours, does not sound promising,