Ali Sanchez exits after getting hit by pitch in Yankees injury worry

DETROIT — Ali Sánchez was already scheduled to be out of commission for a few days this week, for good reason: paternity leave.

But after Monday night, the Yankees were left hoping he would not be out longer than that because of a right wrist injury.

The catcher, who has played well in limited starts since being called up earlier this month, left Monday’s 5-3 loss to the Tigers early after taking Drew Anderson’s 98 mph fastball off the right wrist, which caused him serious pain.

X-rays were negative, but Sánchez was headed for a CT scan postgame to determine if there was any damage.

“Initially, he was in a ton of pain, enough to take him out right away,” manager Aaron Boone said. “Hopefully we get clean on the CT and it’s just a day-to-day thing.”

Ali Sánchez gets hit by a pitch during the Yankees’ June 22 loss. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Sánchez had doubled home the Yankees’ only run off Tigers lefty Framber Valdez, snapping the club’s 0-for-23 skid with runners in scoring position.

The right-handed hitter has been productive across 10 games, batting .316 (6-for-19) with an .802 OPS and three RBIs.

Ali Sánchez exits after getting hit by a pitch during the Yankees’ June 22 loss. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“Feel like he’s done a good job,” Boone said. “I think he’s more than held his own at the plate. Drove in our first run tonight with a really good at-bat. I thought both of his at-bats were really good and competitive and in control. That’s been good to see. Hopefully this is just a day-to-day scenario.”

With Sánchez planning to go on the paternity list any day, J.C. Escarra was already in Detroit with the Yankees on the taxi squad and would also replace him if an injured list stint is needed.

The game was delayed six minutes in the fourth inning after an infield dirt camera became exposed.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. tried to cover the camera in dirt or possibly remove it, to no avail, and the grounds crew eventually had to work on it as Gerrit Cole threw warmup pitches to stay loose.

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“That’s just part of it, I guess, 2026,” Cole said. “I still made quality pitches coming out of the back of those delays, but not easy to deal with. Did the best we could.”

Trent Grisham is trending toward a return that may be even quicker than the Yankees had initially expected.

The outfielder, who has been on the injured list since June 13 with a “moderate” right hamstring strain, was moving well in agility drills in recent days before the Yankees left town and is expected to meet them this weekend at Fenway Park, where he will ramp up to full baseball activities — running the bases, taking batting practice and shagging fly balls in the outfield — before potentially playing in rehab games next week.

“We don’t want to rush the ending of that,” Boone said. “It is encouraging how good he is moving, how well he’s moving. So we need to continue that trajectory and hopefully he’s back sooner rather than later.”

While Boone was mum on Aaron Judge, who is three weeks into a four-to-six-week timeline for reimaging on the stress fracture in his first right rib, he said that Giancarlo Stanton could “start to get ramped up a little bit” Tuesday, a little over a week after suffering a setback with his calf strain.

The Yankees called up Yerry de los Santos on Monday to fill the empty bullpen spot vacated by Jake Bird — with Elmer Rodríguez using the roster spot Sunday for a spot start before being sent right back to Triple-A.

Boone said a few relievers were in consideration — presumably including the hard-throwing Yovanny Cruz — but de los Santos was the choice because he was “in a good spot and fits the role well.”

The righty, who had a four-pitch outing Tuesday, had not given up a run in his last seven appearances.