In the midst of two straight controversial victories, the New York Yankees lost one of their best relief pitchers to injury. The Yankees announced Wednesday that reliever Ian Hamilton was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right groin strain.
Hamilton was removed from a 6-3 Yankees win Tuesday night after he faced five batters. He walked two and struck out two, but was unable to work through the inning. Hamilton will be out for at least the rest of May.
The 27-year-old is enjoying a breakout season with the Yankees. He pitched in 15 games in parts of three different seasons from 2018-2022. This season in 26 games, Hamilton has a 1.23 ERA and 30 strikeouts, proving to be one of New York's most reliable arms in a bullpen that ranks third in reliever ERA.
The Yankees won the first two games of a big four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays but both victories were marred in controversy. Aaron Judge was accused of sign-stealing during Monday's win and then Yankees starting pitcher Domingo German was ejected on Tuesday for using a foreign substance, which led to Hamilton entering the game in the fourth inning.
Nothing other than speculation came from Judge's actions but German faces a suspension after his ejection. The Yankees will be without both a reliable starter and one of their best relief pitchers for at least 10 games.
This is hardly the first time the Yankees have dealt with several key absences, but someone needs to step up for the loss of Ian Hamilton if New York wants to stay afloat in the AL East.
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