Mariano Rivera had to be carted off the field after injuring his knee shagging fly balls during batting practice. According to Bryan Hoch, the Yankees are saying he has a twisted right knee. He was sent for an MRI during the game tonight.
Mark Feinsand reports the Yankees are obviously very concerned.
Despite reports at the scene that described the injury as a twisted knee, Yankee officials were bracing for the worse, i.e., structural damage.This season might have just taken a major turn for the worse.
Rivera, who many Yankees have said for years would be their best outfielder, was shagging flies as he does every day when he made a leaping attempt at a Jayson Nix fly ball in center field. Rivera’s right knee appeared to give out on him when he landed, then he made light contact with the wall and dropped to the warning track, clutching his right knee as he winced in severe pain.
“It looked like the Derrick Rose play,” said one witness, referring to the Chicago Bulls’ star guard who tore his ACL last week.