LHP Paxton latest Yankee to land on injured list

NEW YORK -- On a day when the New York Yankees reinstated one player off their injured list, another went right on it.

About an hour before the Yankees faced the Minnesota Twins on Saturday (in a game the Bronx Bombers ultimately lost 7-3), the team announced that starter James Paxton was placed on the 10-day IL with left knee inflammation.

To replace Paxton, the Yankees called up right-hander Jake Barrett from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In 1 innings Saturday, Barrett allowed just one hit: a ninth-inning solo home run off Nelson Cruz's bat.

Paxton underwent an MRI on Saturday morning. It showed simple inflammation and no further issues. Following the afternoon's game, the left-hander said he had been dealing with knee soreness since the start of the season.

"It's something we've been managing the last little bit," Paxton said. "I don't really know why last game it was acting up more than in previous starts."

Paxton started Friday night's series opener with Minnesota, but left the game after three innings.

"It just kind of got to a point where I was feeling it every pitch," he said. "Other starts, I wasn't feeling it on every pitch. I was able to work through it a bit better."

Just after getting back the results of his MRI, Paxton received a cortisone shot. Because of it, he will be shut down the next five to seven days, and won't do any throwing during that time.

The Yankees, who now once again have 13 players on their IL, are crossing their fingers he won't be down for very long.

"Hopefully it'll be something that's fairly short," manager Aaron Boone said. "But we'll see how he responds."

The 30-year-old Paxton is 3-2 this season with a 3.11 ERA, 52 strikeouts and 13 walks. This is the eighth time Paxton has been placed on a disabled list or injury list in his seven-year career. He now joins the likes of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Dellin Betances and Luis Severino on the 13-man Yankees IL.

Paxton changed his offseason training habits the past two years in order to stay off the IL as best he could. He told ESPN that failing once again to remain uninjured was "frustrating."

In all, 16 Yankees have been sidelined by injuries this season. CC Sabathia, Gary Sanchez and Miguel Andujar have all returned from the IL. Andujar is the most recent reinstated player, returning Saturday after a monthlong stint due to a small labrum tear that didn't require surgery.

While he went 1-for-3, drawing a walk, striking out once and hitting a long fly ball to deep left-center, Andujar also committed a pair of errors in the field while playing third base.

Boone indicated before the game that he wanted to use Sanchez as his designated hitter for the day, after he caught the night before. As a result, it meant Andujar would have to play the field in place of his replacement, the slick-gloved Gio Urshela.

Still, there are "probably more DH games" than third-base games for Andujar in the short term, Boone said.

Andujar said that he wasn't thinking about his shoulder, nor was he hesitant to throw because of it, although his throws did seem to be lacking some of their usual assertiveness. One of them, on an attempted double play, completely missed its mark at second base.

When the throw sailed into the outfield, it moved a baserunner to third. That runner later scored.

Through an interpreter, Andujar said it was "a bad throw."

Boone believed he knew the reason why.

"I thought it was footwork stuff," the manager said. "On the throw to second, I don't think it was shoulder related, his footwork got away from him. When you're off the wrong foot from down under, it makes it a tough play."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.