New York Yankees Place Jacoby Ellsbury On Disabled List

Following Tuesday night's loss to the Washington Nationals, the New York Yankees placed center fiedler Jacoby Ellsbury on the 15-day disabled list with a right knee sprain. To replace him on the roster, they Yankees called up right-fielder Slade Heathcott from Triple-A, signed him to an Major League contract, and added him to the active roster. MLB.com's Bryan Hoch announced the news via Twitter early Wedesday morning.

Yankees moves: Signed Slade Heathcott to MLB contract, selected to 25-man roster. Jacoby Ellsbury to 15-day DL. Chase Whitley to 60-day DL.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) May 20, 2015

Ellsbury aggrevated his knee -- which has bothered him since the start of the season -- while running the bases on Brett Gardner's ground ball in the top of the fourth. During his own at bat before Gardner's, Ellsbury swung and missed and limped in pain but continued the at bat. He ended up walking to put him at first base when Garnder came up (video). Ellsbury left the game and the stadium for an MRI, and the results showed the sprain.

In his report, Hoch called Ellsbury a "catalyst" at the top of the Yankees' order but says the team "will continue without his services for at least two weeks" as he recovers. Hoch quoted Yankees manager Joe Girardi explaining the significance of losing Ellsbury, who has sparked the offense all season so far. Said Girardi,

"It's not what you want. If we are going to lose him for some time, somebody's got to step up. That's the bottom line. It's part of the game."

Stepping up to replace Ellsbury means finding someone who can put up numbers similar to the center fielder's All-Star-caliber performance to date. Ellsbury is hitting .324/.412/.372 with 1 HR, 6 RBI, 14 SB, and 29 R in 37 games as primarliy the lead-off hitter. He has also played stellar defense in Yankee Stadium's spacious left side to center of the outfield.

Heathcotte, who played right field for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, was hitting .285 with 1 HR and 17 RBI in 37 games.

Gardner could move over to center field and lead off in the batting order -- both with which he has much experience as a Yankee -- but as of Wednesday afternoon, Girardi was uncertain about making that move -- at least for the time being.