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New York Yankees relief pitcher David Roberston is dealing with a sore hamstring, and will be unavailable to pitch over the weekend against the Oakland Athletics. Robertson injured his leg running to cover first base on Wednesday.
The injury-plagued Yankees are hoping that Robertston can avoid a trip to the designated list, as the team recently placed reliever Joba Chamberlain on the 15-day DL. Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Youkilis, Francisco Cervelli, Michael Pineda, Ivan Nova and Derek Jeter are all currently on the DL for the Yankees, so the team can ill-afford another key injury.
Despite the fact that New York has many important pieces currently unable to play, the team has started the season well. The Yankees went 17-10 over the first 27 games of the season, and the bullpen played a key role in the team's fast start. Chamberlain had thrown eight straight scoreless appearances, while Mariano Rivera has been perfect in 11 save opportunities this season.
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Robertson had also pitched well out of the bullpen as the set-up man for Rivera, posting a 3.86 ERA in 11.2 innings. The right-handed reliever looked dominate in 12 appearances, as he struck out 13 batters and only walked two.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi told the media that he didn't have a set plan for getting the ball to Rivera, but that he planned to "mix and match" his relievers based on matchups.
