Brett Gardner: NY Yankees LF Suffers 'Little Setback,' out 15-25 Days

The New York Yankees were expecting to welcome back left fielder Brett Gardner sometime this week after spending time on the disabled list with a bruised elbow and a strained arm muscle, but Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger tweets that we won't see Gardner until the end of May:

"

Girardi says Gardner will miss 15-25 days.

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) May 11, 2012"

Although we're not yet sure as to what the "little setback" entails, manager Joe Girardi told ESPN NewYork's Kieran Darcy that: "It's in the muscular part, it's not where the bone bruise was."

He went on to add: "It could be new. He had the bone bruise plus the muscular part before -- but the muscular part, it healed. But he's feeling it in that area."

For now, the Yankees will continue to roll with a platoon of Andruw Jones and Raul Ibanez in left field. And DeWayne Wise and Eduardo Nunez could also see some time.

This setback is bad for both the Yankees and Gardner, as he was off to a hot start for the Bombers.

Through nine games and 28 at-bats, Gardner had posted a line of .321/.424/.393 with three RBI and two stolen bases.

Gardner, who injured himself making a diving catch in a game against the Minnesota Twins, struggled at times last season.

He led the league in stolen bases with 49, but hit just .259 in 159 games.

The 28-year-old outfielder, out and on the DL since April 18, will have an MRI exam on his right elbow after experiencing soreness in his rehab at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, reports the New York Post.

A solid catalyst for the Yankees when healthy, look for the team to try and get Gardner back as soon as possible.