Yankees Fireballer Expected To Miss Opening Day Due To Injury

New York may be without the services of one of its top relievers on Opening Day

The New York Yankees may be without one of their top relievers to start the 2024 season.

New York has been managing fireballer Tommy Kahnle's shoulder injury and although he may not miss too much time, it's trending in a direction that he will miss Opening Day, according to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. 

"Asked if he will not be ready for Opening Day, Tommy Kahnle (shoulder) said that "it's trending that way," Hoch transcribed. "He expects to begin pitching in games during the first week of the season."

One of the Yankees' biggest problems last year was a massive amount of injuries. New York entered the season with extremely high expectations but failed to live up to them. The Yankees barely finished above .500 and one of the biggest reasons why were the injuries. 

New York seemingly never was at full strength and it showed on the field. The Yankees were inconsistent and looked to address this throughout the offseason. New York made some great additions throughout the offseason and seems to be in a much better spot.

While this is the case, the Yankees already are dealing with injuries and Kahnle is just one example. He has only appeared in 55 games at the big league level over the last two seasons but has been impressive when he has been on the mound.

Kahnle had a 2.66 ERA in 42 appearances last season and a 2.84 ERA in 13 appearances in 2022. 

New York had the best bullpen in baseball last season and is hoping to remain as solid in 2024. A healthy Kahnle will help with that but it might be a little bit before he is on the mound.