Jonathan Loaisiga is already back on the injured list and may not be coming back any time soon.
The Yankees reliever landed on the 60-day IL on Friday morning with what Aaron Boone described as a “significant forearm strain” — the team officially labeled it a right flexor strain — after making three appearances in the first week of the season.
Dennis Santana was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ahead of Friday’s home opener against the Blue Jays.
After feeling something in his elbow in his last appearance on Wednesday in Arizona, Loaisiga underwent an MRI exam on Thursday night and was set to meet with doctors on Friday to determine the next steps.
“Obviously, it is concerning,” Boone said before the Yankees’ 3-0 loss to the Blue Jays. “We’ll see what we have now over the days and weeks and where we go from here.”
Loaisiga has been one of the Yankees’ top bullpen arms in recent years, but he has not been able to stay healthy.
He missed time last year with two IL stints for elbow inflammation, including one that required surgery in May to remove bone spurs from his elbow.
The 29-year-old Loaisiga, a free agent after this season, also has missed time with shoulder troubles.
The Yankees had planned this season to use Loaisiga in more of a multi-inning role with multiple days built in between each outing, which was aimed at helping him stay healthy.
He threw two innings on Opening Day last Thursday, then one inning on Sunday and one inning on Wednesday — all of them scoreless.
Without Loaisiga, the Yankees may have to lean more on the likes of Ian Hamilton (who has thrived in the multi-inning role so far), Caleb Ferguson and Nick Burdi as setup men before getting the ball to Clay Holmes.
