A day after going on the 10-day injured list with what the team called a right calf strain, New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson told reporters Monday evening that the injury is much worse — bad enough that he can’t say whether he thinks he could return this season.
Speaking with reporters in Anaheim, Calif., before the start of the Yankees’ three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels, Donaldson answered, “I don’t know,” when asked if he could play again this season.
The New York Post reported that the injury was severe enough to be considered a tear rather than a strain, with one doctor calling it a Grade 2-plus strain and another classifying it as a Grade 3.
According to WebMD, a Grade 2 muscle strain means “the muscle hasn’t completely torn. Still, you’ll have lost strength and motion in that muscle and it may take 2-3 months to recover,” while a Grade 3 strain means “the muscle or tendon has completely torn. You might need surgery.”
There is currently no timetable for Donaldson’s return, though manager Aaron Boone said it would “be a decent amount of time” before Donaldson could play.
Donaldson, 37, sustained the injury on Saturday while running out a ground ball in the seventh inning of New York’s 6-3 win against the Colorado Rockies in Denver. He was also sidelined by a right hamstring strain from April 5 to June 2. He is batting .142 through 33 games, with 10 home runs but just four singles and one double.
Donaldson is a career .262 hitter with 276 homers and 805 RBIs in 1,366 games over 13 seasons with six teams. He is in his second season with the Yankees. He is set to become a free agent after this season, and last month he told The Athletic he was undecided on whether he would play in 2024 or retire at the end of this season.
–Field Level Media