DUNEDEN, Fla. — The Yankees may want to break camp a week earlier and wrap players in bubble wraps until opening day.
Paul Goldschmidt finished Monday's game with the Blue Jays due to the back pain he's been dealing with for days after two at-bats and 2½ innings.
The 37-year-old first baseman said he had “zero” concerns about his ready to start the season in 10 days, but decided to play safely on Monday.
“It wasn't that bad today. It was one of those things I just didn't want to get worse in a week or so,” Goldschmidt said in a 6-5 defeat at TD Ballpark. “You have to be fine.”
The first two innings on Monday were long, and this meant a lot of positions for Goldschmidt. a
Aron Boone has shown he is part of his calculus in taking the veteran out of the game early.
“I don't think it's too big,” Boone said.
Goldschmidt was already scheduled to be off on Tuesday after playing back-to-back days, but Boone is hoping to return to the lineup against the Braves on Wednesday night.
The Yankees were destroyed by injuries this spring, and the biggest punch came to the pitching staff, but they are scheduled to start the season with Giancarlo Stanton (tennis elbow) and DJ lemahieu (calf stock) on the injured list.
Until this spring, Goldschmidt is 32-10 (.313) at 1.077 OPS.
“This took a few days and it didn't really get any worse, but what was clearly there was thinking, 'Is this really the time to push that?'” Goldschmidt said. “I think the answer is no.”
