Yankees put Josh Donaldson, Jonathan Loaisiga on injured list

BALTIMORE — Josh Donaldson was placed on the injured list with a right hamstring strain on Saturday. That was expected.

Less expected were some of the other announcements made by the Yankees late in the morning.

Heading that list was the news that reliever Jonathan Loaisiga had been put on the IL with right elbow inflammation.

“Hopefully this isn’t a long-term thing, we don’t think it is, but still frustrating,” Aaron Boone said before Saturday night’s game against the Orioles. “Especially because obviously how important he is to our team.”

Loaisiga, plagued throughout his career by injuries, has allowed one run and two hits in 3 1/3 innings this season.

Boone said the “good news” was that an MRI did not show any ligament damage, “only some swelling in the joint.” Loaisiga received a cortisone injection.

The Yankees also signed outfielder Willie Calhoun, a non-roster invitee who played well throughout spring training, to a big-league contract and placed him on the active roster. He was in uniform Saturday night for the second of the three-game series against the Orioles.

The move to bring up Calhoun, who hit .294 (15-for-51) with a .379 on-base percentage in 21 Grapefruit League games,  theoretically buries outfielder Aaron Hicks even further on the bench. Hicks' playing time already had been sporadic at best, though he did get the start Saturday night against Orioles lefthander Cole Irvin.

Reliever Tommy Kahnle, who started the season on the injured list with right biceps tendinitis and initially was thought to be in line for a mid-to-late-April return, was transferred to the 60-day IL and rookie righthander Jhony Brito was brought up to start Saturday night.

Boone insisted before Saturday’s game that the Kahnle news did not qualify as a setback. He said the Yankees needed the roster spot and, because the righthander wasn’t able to begin his throwing program when he initially was supposed to do so in March, he was looking at a late-May return regardless.   

Donaldson departed Wednesday’s game after the second inning when he felt discomfort in his hamstring as he ran to first base on a flyout.

When Boone said Friday that an IL stint for Donaldson was “likely,” he said DJ LeMahieu would receive “the bulk” of the playing time at third. Isiah Kiner-Falefa also could see some time at third but, for the moment, the Yankees like the utilityman more as Aaron Judge’s backup in centerfield. Oswaldo Cabrera also could  see a game or two at third on days when LeMahieu is given a rest or needed at first base to give Anthony Rizzo a day off.

Boone said he expects Donaldson, who has been hitting, throwing and running at the Stadium the last several days, to be ready to return when his IL stint is up.

The Loaisiga move came as a bit of a surprise, though Boone may have telegraphed that there was an issue with him Friday when, in the late innings of a close game, he went to Jimmy Cordero. Loaisiga had informed the manager before the game of the discomfort he felt in the elbow.

With the injuries mounting, does Boone have to resist the urge to feel down?
“No time for that,” he said. “The reality is we have a team that can go out there and win and win big. That’s our focus right now.”