Bronx ER: NY Yankees 2B Rougned Odor on IL with Sprained Knee Injury

In the latest episode of Bronx ER, the New York Yankees placed second baseman Rougned Odor on the 10-day IL after he suffered a knee injury in a home-plate collision against the Houston Astros on Tuesday.

Rougned Odor New York NY Yankees Bronx ER Injury Knee IL — NY Yankees second baseman Rougned Odor moments after his knee collided with the head of Houston Astros’ catcher Martin Maldonado. (Image: AP)

An MRI revealed that Odor, 27, suffered a sprained knee after he collided with the head of Houston catcher MartÃn Maldonado. Odor needed help to leave the playing field due to the frightening injury.

“Roughned was moving around pretty good before he left, even in the clubhouse,” said manager Aaron Boone.

Maldonado was also removed from the game. The Astros’ catcher suffered a trapezius contusion, but did not show any signs of a concussion.

In 19 games with the Yankees this season, Odor hit four home runs and drove in 11 RBI. He slashed at .164/.271/.361.

Odor will miss at least eight games during his stint on the 10-day IL. Backup infielder Tyler Wade will fill in for Odor, for now. Wade had only six at-bats this season, but is hitting at .333. He’s a career .192 hitter in limited action, and has only 312 at-bats with the Yankees since 2017.

The Yankees also called up infield Albert Abreu from Triple-A Scranton to fill the open roster spot.

Yankees score three runs on an infield single by DJ LeMahieu that turns into an Alex Bregman error, which leads to a collision at home plate that leaves both MartÃn Maldonado and Rougned Odor injured pic.twitter.com/WPVEEEzfAP

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 5, 2021

Boone Shuffles Deck

In March, the Yankees lost first baseman Luke Voit to a knee injury that required minor surgery. Voit was the pandemic home run champion with 22 homers last season.

The Yankees thought veteran Jay Bruce would be the “next guy up” to replace Voit, but he didn’t work out. He abruptly retired and the Yanks scrambled to find a replacement. When Bruce retired, the versatile DJ LeMahieu moved from second base to first base. With a spot open at first base due to the Voit injury, the Yankees tapped Odor to become the next man up at second base.

The Yankees called up left-handed hitter Mike Ford, who has been platooning with LeMahieu at first base. On days LeMahieu plays first base, Wade plays second base.

May Surge, Stanton Wakes Up

The Yanks started the season in the hole with a 6-11 record. They were 9-13 heading into the final week of April, but went 6-1 since then, with the lone loss coming in extra innings last week.

The Yankees won four games in a row and improved to 15-14. They swept the Detroit Tigers over the weekend and defeated the Houston Astros in the first game of their long-awaited revenge series at Yankee Stadium that whipped the limited fans in attendance into a frenzy.

“It was intense,” added Boone. “You could feel it when you walked out there 15 minutes before the game. It got your attention, certainly.”

“That was playoff energy, even though we’re not at full capacity,” said Giancarlo Stanton. “That was fun. They brought the noise.”

A hot-hitting Stanton smacked a home run and collected four hits in the series opener against the Astros. This season, he’s smacked seven home runs, driven in 18 RBI, and is hitting .297 overall.

The Yanks play the Astros (15-14) two more times this week. Ace Gerrit Cole, a former Astro, takes the mound against his old team on Thursday afternoon in a get-away game.

The Washington Nationals (12-13) visit New York City for a three-game series over the weekend in the first interleague matchup of the season for the Yankees.