Jayson Nix Out With Broken Hand, Shortstop Depth A Problem Again

(Tried to pull his hand out of the way and moved it right into the ball's path.  Damn knucklers.  Courtesy of RAB)

The one bad thing to come out of last night's win was the injury suffered by Jayson Nix.  In the bottom of the 2nd, he took a knuckleball from R.A. Dickey off the left hand and was in obvious pain instantly.  He tried to stay in the game, but signaled to the trainer after taking his base and was removed from the game.  It didn't take long for the team to announce that the hand was broken and Nix's 2013 is all but officially over.


Losing Nix is not the worst thing in the world, at least it shouldn't be on paper.  He had just a .279 wOBA/70 wRC+ in 303 PA this season, and the Nix moment that stands out to me the most this season is when he absolutely botched the shit out of playing third base right at the height of the "I don't even want A-Rod to come back and play third base" rhetoric from the dumber part of the Yankee fan base.  Nix is below replacement level at the plate, and with Alex back and Mark Reynolds in the fold the Yankees are well covered at third base.

Where they are no longer covered is at shortstop, where Nix's defensive skills are better suited and where his services were most needed.  His primary role as utility infielder was to back up the inconsistent and oft-injured Eduardo Nunez, who just came back after missing a few games with hamstring tightness.  With Derek Jeter slowly ramping up his rehab and Joe stating definitively that there are no plans to call him up soon, the hole that's existed for most of the season at short is starting to open up again.

The only player left in the Minors who could be called up to take Nix's spot is Alberto Gonzalez, and it will require a 40-man roster move to get that done.  The Yanks could take a chance and go without a backup shortstop and recall David Adams, but I don't see them doing that.  Not with the endless string of question marks that is Nunez the only other (semi)healthy option.  It's another frustrating example of how poorly the front office went about planning to cover for Jeter's injury and how unbelievably snakebitten the Yanks have been by injuries this year.