The Yankees could be without Paul Goldschmidt for a little while.
The first baseman is dealing with a low-grade sprain and inflammation in his right knee, the Yankees said after Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins in the Bronx.
“I don’t think it’s anything long-term, so that’s good,” Goldschmidt said.
Goldschmidt, 37, suffered the injury on Tuesday night when he overran a pop-up in foul territory and had to recover to make the catch. The play appeared to occur in the third inning.
He managed to finish out Tuesday’s 9-1 win, but he was unavailable in Wednesday’s loss, manager Aaron Boone confirmed after the game.
“Could be an IL [situation]. Could be a day-to-day thing,” Boone said. “We’ll kind of see here over the next 24 hours which way we’ll go with it.”
Goldschmidt is hitting .276 with 10 home runs, 40 RBI and a .753 OPS this season, his first with the Yankees. The righty-swinging veteran is a weapon versus left-handed pitchers, against whom he is batting .404 with a 1.191 OPS.
His absence was evident in the seventh inning Wednesday when lefty-swinging Austin Wells remained in the game and struck out against left-handed reliever Kody Funderburk.
Goldschmidt said he felt “sore” on Tuesday after the injury occurred.
“It could be something that heals very quickly or something that could maybe take a few more days,” Goldschmidt said. “Hopefully it will be as quick as possible, and I’ll do everything I can to make that happen.”
Ben Rice started at first base on Wednesday, and Cody Bellinger has significant experience at the position as well.
“He’s been a huge part of this team,” Bellinger said of Goldschmidt. “He’s a vacuum over there at first base as well. I’ve played first before, and I really appreciate what he does on the defensive side. For me, [it’s] just the quality ABs. He’s just a true professional in every single at-bat.”
The injury occurred ahead of the Yankees’ road trip to St. Louis, where Goldschmidt played from 2019-24 and won National League MVP in 2022.
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