Brian Bruney Back to DL; Robertson Called Up

According to Peter Abraham of the Journal News, the Yankees have put reliever Brian Bruney back on the 15-day disabled list and are sending him to see the infamous Dr. James Andrews to do further tests on his elbow.

Brian Bruney did what he thought was right last week, telling the Yankees he was ready to come off the disabled list despite the pain in his right elbow.

But after appearing in one game, Bruney was put back on the DL yesterday and the Yankees are once again without their primary setup man.

“I’ve got to find out what the problem is. I think there is something that we’re missing or overseeing. Maybe some different tests will show what I have going on,” Bruney said. “I’m tired of this.”

Dr. James Andrews will examine Bruney tomorrow.

Bruney does not believe the injury is serious because he can throw his customary 95 mph. But the Yankees are fearful Bruney will need surgery given that rest has not solved a problem that first started in spring training.

“We were hoping it would respond right away and it just didn’t,” manager Joe Girardi said.

This has become quite a weird situation. On one hand, there seems to be nothing wrong with Bruney’s elbow as multiple MRI’s and angiograms have come back negative, but at the same time there is still clearly something wrong with his elbow.

At least the Yankees have made the right decision putting Bruney back on the DL as him being on the roster without being able to play has already hurt the Yankees (When they were forced to go to Brett Tomko in extra innings against Philadelphia on Sunday).

Now Dr. Andrews will have a chance to see if he can find something wrong with Bruney’s elbow or at the very least he will have some time to rest.

In the meantime the Yankees have called up minor league reliever David Robertson, who should help at least by giving them another live arm in the pen.

The Yankees pen has also been doing pretty decently of late. During the month of March, all without Bruney, they are ranked 5th in the American League with a 3.84 ERA. So hopefully this won’t immediately bring back all the Joba-to-the-pen bobbleheads.