NEW YORK — Newly acquired Yankees left-hander J.A. Happ was diagnosed Tuesday with hand, foot and mouth disease, the second pitcher on a New York team to be recently affected by the illness.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is an infectious illness that often affects young children. Mets star Noah Syndergaard currently is on the disabled list with the disease.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said the team’s doctors aren’t certain how Happ caught it. The 35-year-old was traded from Toronto to the Yankees last week for infielder Brandon Drury and outfielder Billy McKinney. Happ won his New York debut on Sunday, allowing one run over six innings to beat Kansas City.
Happ has had success in his career against Boston, and had been set to pitch Saturday against the AL East-leading Red Sox at Fenway Park. Cashman said Happ’s case appears to be mild, and that he still might be able to make that start.
Lance Lynn was acquired from Minnesota on Monday as a long reliever and insurance for the rotation.
"That’s not why we did any of that stuff but based on the deadline we’ll have more personnel available to use to pivot easier than maybe we would have," Cashman said.
In addition, Luis Cessa was being limited to one inning Tuesday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
"We have an elite bullpen with high-leverage, mostly one-inning guys. We have a starting rotation that doesn’t necessarily give you the amount of depth," Cashman said.
New York started a stretch Tuesday in which it is scheduled for games on 20 consecutive days. Lynn likely will be inserted to give extra rest to others in the rotation, which includes Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia and Sonny Gray.
"As we play a lot of games in a row there may be some opportunities for him to start," manager Aaron Boone said. "We see a lot of potentially significant roles for him moving forward."
To create a spot for Lynn on the 13-man pitching staff, the Yankees traded long reliever Adam Warren to Seattle.
"I told Adam that it’s not easy to do the job I have to do," Cashman said. "I’ve traded him twice now, and in both cases not wanting to trade him. I think sometimes with a decision like this you trade good people that are also good players and that makes it that much more difficult to do, but we felt evaluating things objectively this was in our best short-term interest — meaning as we approach August and September and October."
Cashman said the Yankees "kicked the tires on a lot of different things" but didn’t find a bat for the right price to fill in while Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez are on the disabled list.
Notes: OF Clint Frazier is dealing with a migraine issue, not a concussion, according to Cashman. The GM told teams inquiring he was not being considered for a trade. Boone said Frazier was at the team’s minor league complex in Tampa, Florida, and was dealing with "some fogginess."
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