New York Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman will be placed on the injured list after getting an infection in his leg from a recent tattoo.
Manager Aaron Boone said before Saturday’s game against the Athletics that Chapman felt irritation in the leg on Thursday after getting the tattoo earlier in the week. The seven-time All-Star stayed back at the team hotel Friday and Saturday receiving antibiotics and getting treatment.
“It’s still significant enough,” Boone said. “He got a pretty bad infection.”
Chapman hasn’t pitched since Aug. 19 when he allowed one run in one-third of an inning against Toronto. Boone said Chapman had been available to pitch until Thursday when the leg started bothering him just before the start of the series opener against the A’s.
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Boone said he doesn’t expect this to be a long-term issue but needs to wait to get a better sense of how much time Chapman will miss.
“Hopefully he’s good in several days,” Boone said. “We just have to get our arms around it. It got a little bit worse over the last few days.”
Boone said he didn’t have a problem with Chapman getting a tattoo during the season.
“It’s hard for me. I don’t have tattoos. That’s a personal choice,” Boone said. “This is more of an unfortunate situation that turned into an infection. My focus is on trying to get him right.”
Chapman was shaky early this season and was replaced as the Yankees’ closer after missing nearly six weeks with tendinitis in his left Achilles. He is 2-1 with a 5.40 ERA in 19 appearances since returning in early July, with 20 strikeouts in 16⅔ innings.
The veteran left-hander is 2-3 with a 4.70 ERA and nine saves in 36 appearances this year.
The Yankees didn’t make an immediate corresponding roster move because they couldn’t get anyone out to the West Coast by Saturday. Boone expects to add an additional player in the next day or two.
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Ohtani masterful on the mound
Shohei Ohtani struck out nine in seven innings and Andrew Velazquez homered, helping the Angels beat the Blue Jays, 2-0, in Toronto.
Ohtani (11-8) allowed two hits — a single for George Springer in the first, and a two-out double for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the third — in his career-best 11th win. David Fletcher had three hits and scored the winning run on Luis Rengifo’s single in the sixth.
Jimmy Herget finished the two-hitter as the Angels won consecutive games after losing their previous six, blanking the Blue Jays for the second day in a row.
Los Angeles, which won 12-0 Friday, leads the AL with 15 shutouts.
Toronto wasted a strong performance by All-Star righthander Alek Manoah (12-7), who struck out eight in seven innings.
Ohtani threw a season-high 109 pitches, 72 for strikes, in his first win since Aug. 9 at Oakland. He lowered his ERA to 2.67.
Braves’ Stephens concussed by ball to head
Braves reliever Jackson Stephens was hit in the side of the head by a line drive Friday night and headed to a hospital for tests. On Saturday, the Braves placed Stephens on the seven-day injured list with a concussion.
Stephens walked off the field in the ninth inning of an 11-4 win against the Cardinals.
“It’s always scary when you see somebody get hit in the head, the face,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s probably the most sickening thing you can witness in a game.”
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With one out and runners on second and third, Brendan Donovan blistered a line drive that struck Stephens in the right temple. The ball ricocheted into shallow right field for an RBI single.
Stephens never went down, but was immediately checked by the Atlanta training staff. After a moment, he walked off the field under his own power to loud applause from what remained of the crowd at Busch Stadium.
Yankees’ Trivino laughs off uniform snafu
Yankees reliever Lou Trivino got a tap on his shoulder as he warmed up in the bullpen alerting him he had on the wrong jersey: the No. 50 belonging to Jameson Taillon instead of his own 56.
Trivino had pulled off his sweatshirt to throw his pitches on a cool Friday night at the Coliseum and the problem became clear. He began to warm in case he was needed to replace Wandy Peralta, who surrendered an RBI single to pinch-hitter Dermis García but finished the game for his third save as New York beat the Athletics, 3-2.
“I don’t know, it happens,” Trivino said. “. . . I was warming up, I wasn’t even paying attention.”
A bat boy scurried out with the right jersey and Trivino made a quick change.
Who told him? “I don’t know, it just happened,” said Trivino, who was traded by the A’s to New York at the deadline along with Frankie Montas.
Trivino laughed it all off, saying, “It wasn’t the first time, it’s probably not the last.”
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So he had done it before? “Oh, yeah, who hasn’t?” he cracked.
Rosenthal might miss 2nd full season
Brewers reliever Trevor Rosenthal’s status for the rest of the season is in doubt due to a lat injury, the latest setback for a former All-Star closer who hasn’t pitched since the 2020 playoffs.
“I think there’s still a possibility [he could return] in the regular season, but it doesn’t look great,” manager Craig Counsell said before the Brewers’ game against the Cubs. “I think we’ll kind of gather some more information in the next couple of days, how we’re doing here and what kind of direction Trevor wants to take with this.”
This represents the latest setback for Rosenthal, who hasn’t pitched since the 2020 playoffs with the San Diego Padres due to a variety of injuries. Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns said this issue was unrelated to his prior injuries.
“This is a completely new injury,” Stearns said. “It’s something he had not felt at all through his rehab projection. It just popped up in his most recent outing.”
The Brewers acquired Rosenthal from the Giants at the trade deadline with the idea the 2015 All-Star could help their bullpen in the final month of the season. His lat injury cut short an appearance with Brewers’ Triple A Nashville.
Counsell said Rosenthal’s injury is similar to the issue that caused Brewers righthander Freddy Peralta to miss over two months earlier this season.