Yankees' Josh Donaldson Out Multiple Weeks After Hamstring Injury Diagnosed as Strain

The New York Yankees will be without third baseman Josh Donaldson for a few more weeks.

Team manager Aaron Boone said Friday that Donaldson would miss time with a Grade 1-plus strain, per The Athletic's Chris Kirschner.

Donaldson was first put on the Yankees' 10-day injured list on April 6 with tightness in his right hamstring. He played a Double-A rehab game Tuesday before an MRI later in the week revealed the strain.

The veteran third baseman, who has slashed .125/.176/.313 through five games, was hoping for a bounce-back season after seeing his numbers dip during his first year in New York.

Boone said earlier this month that the Yankees would lean on DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in Donaldson's absence,

The Minnesota Twins sent Donaldson to the Yankees in a five-player trade in March 2022. During his first season in New York, Donaldson had some of the worst hitting numbers of his career. When he arrived at Yankees camp this spring, the third baseman appeared to be confident that he could improve upon on that campaign.

"If I felt like I didn't have anything left to offer the game, I wouldn't have reported to camp," Donaldson told the New York Post's Jon Heyman in March. "I feel like I have [something] in the tank or I wouldn't show up. Obviously, I feel like I do. That's why I'm here. And I'm going to give it everything I have."

Donaldson's numbers so far haven't lived up to those promises, but he only saw 16 at-bats before he had to exit the Yankees' 4-2 win over the Phillies on April 5 because of tightness in his hamstring.

The Yankees hoped Donaldson would only need one rehab game to recover, but his outing with the Double-A Somerset Patriots did not go as planned. Although he recorded an infield single, Donaldson was visibly slow out of the box as his hamstring limited his three plate appearances, per Latino Sports' Julian Guilarte. He was pulled after five innings.

Donaldson is in the final guaranteed year of the four-year contract he signed with the Twins. Although his offense has dipped below league average over the past season, Donaldson remained the Yankees' starting third baseman heading into 2023, raising the question of whether the team will consider his $6 million mutual option for 2024.