Yankees place OF Cody Bellinger on 10-day IL with strained left hamstring

With Aaron Judge already out of the lineup and his return for this season uncertain, the New York Yankees are losing another outfielder to injury.

Cody Bellinger was placed on the injured list with a strained left hamstring, the team announced on Sunday. The veteran outfielder sustained the injury during Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies while running the bases on an eighth-inning double. Max Schuemann took over for Bellinger in left field in the bottom of the inning.

“I felt like it was smart to get out of there,” Bellinger said afterward. “I’ll see how I wake up tomorrow and go from there. As the at-bat went on, it felt like it probably wasn’t the smartest decision to stay.”

Following the game, Bellinger downplayed the seriousness of the injury but admitted that imaging results might indicate differently.

“I’ve never had a hamstring [injury] before,” he said. “It just feels a little tight. I really don’t think it’s anything too serious. I feel like it’s on the smaller side.”

Bellinger, 31, has a .259/.350/.420 slash average in 434 plate appearances with 11 home runs, 21 doubles, 53 RBI and 10 stolen bases. However, he’s gone 31 games without hitting a homer, one of the longest power droughts of his career.

Though he’s played all three outfield positions and first base this season, Bellinger has mostly played left field where he’s excelled defensively. Advanced metrics credit him with 19 Defensive Runs Saved and 6 Outs Above Average.

Bellinger joins an All-Star roster on the Yankees’ injured list. Judge went on the IL on June 4 with a stress fracture in his right rib cage that still hasn’t fully healed. Additionally, Giancarlo Stanton has been out for a majority of the season. The Yankees’ designated hitter has been sidelined with a strained right calf since April 25.

To fill Bellinger’s spot on the roster, the Yankees recalled Spencer Jones from Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. In the minors, Jones has slashed .273/.385/.557 with 14 homers, 10 doubles, 52 RBI and 10 steals. During a previous stint with the Yankees this season, he batted .224 with a .669 OPS with 2 home runs and 7 RBI.

The Yankees went into Sunday’s MLB schedule at 59-45, two games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. But they seemingly have a firm hold on the league’s top wild-card playoff spot, six games ahead of the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Guardians.