Brian Bruney Out Just 2-3 Weeks

According to Peter Abraham of the Journal News, Yankees' setup man Brian Bruney’s elbow problems are nothing serious, just a strained flexor muscle in his right elbow, and he should be back within the next 2-3 weeks.

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The setup man was diagnosed with a strained flexor muscle in his right elbow yesterday and will be shut down for a week before he starts throwing again. The Yankees do not expect him to be out very long.

“You’re looking at two to three weeks if it reacts the way we expect it to,” manager Joe Girardi said.

Bruney has no ligament weakness.

“It is pretty good news. It’s not going to keep me out for a while,” Bruney said. “I think we caught it in time.”

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Anyone who watched last night’s loss to Boston realizes that this is obviously huge news. If the Yankees are going to go anywhere this season they are going to need a reliable bridge to Mariano Rivera.

Even though they did just call up Mark Melancon from the minors, he is still untested in the majors. Meanwhile Bruney has been mostly lights out this season.

This is also great news for those fans who would like to keep Joba Chamberlain in the rotation. Had Bruney been forced out all season that debate would have been sure to resurface and at a time when Chien-Ming Wang is questionable Joba is needed in the rotation more than ever.