TORONTO — With a small travel bag over his shoulder, a new slugging right-handed hitter walked into the Yankees clubhouse early Tuesday morning after flying into Toronto from Allentown, Pa.
Bryan De La Cruz, who was summoned in case outfielder Trent Grisham’s hamstring tightness turns into an IL stint, right way noticed former Marlins teammate Jazz Chisholm sitting at his locker and headed that way. They embraced, then chatted it up for a couple minutes.
De La Cruz, whose big-league resume includes a combined 40 homers over the 2023 and 2024 seasons, for the time being is only a member of the Yankees’ taxi squad.
That’s because Grisham’s left hamstring was feeling better the day after he was forced out of Monday night’s series opener in Toronto.
“We have not made a decision on (activating De La Cruz)” because “Grish is doing a little better than we expected,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before Tuesday’s Yankees-Blue Jays’ game. “He’s actually been able to out on the field moving around. We’ll see.”
Grisham’s hamstring tightened in the fourth inning of Monday night’s 5-4 loss to the Blue Jays when he ran hard chasing a blooping and then slowed up when he realized he couldn’t prevent it from dropping in for a hit. He finished the inning, then pulled himself out of the game before the Blue Jays hit in the fifth.
Grisham said after the game that it was “too early to tell” how serious his injury was.
A day later, the Yankees were optimistic that Grisham won’t have to be put on the 10-day IL.
“His strength stuff is good,” Boone said. I think he’s a little surprised how good he feels and he feels like he could even be a player today. So that’s where he’s at. We’ll continue to evaluate it and see if it’s something that we’re going to avoid or wait at least another day.”
De La Cruz, 28, was claimed by the Yankees off waivers from the Braves on May 1. He hit .191 with three RBI in 16 games with the Braves this season. With Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he hit .250 with seven homers and 22 RBI in 43 games.
The Dominican has played 491 MLB games with the Marlins (2021-24), Pirates (2024) and Braves (2025).
