Major League Baseball

Yankees' Gary Sánchez on injured list with strained groin

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:23 p.m. ET

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — New York Yankees All-Star catcher Gary Sánchez has gone on the injured list for the second time this season, a day after straining his left groin.

Sánchez was hurt when he stepped on first base while grounding out in the eighth inning of a 14-12, 10-inning win by the Yankees over Minnesota on Tuesday night. He was replaced by Austin Romine.

Sánchez also was sidelined between April 10 and 24 because of a strained left calf. He had a strained right groin last season that shelved him from June 25 to July 19 and from July 24 to Sept. 1.

"I felt it after I stepped on the base," Sánchez said through an interpreter. "It felt kind of like a cramp. It's nothing like what I had last year. The pain is completely different."

The MRI test on Wednesday revealed a Grade 1 strain, according to manager Aaron Boone, the mildest form of the injury.

"Which is somewhat of good news, but still it's going to be some time," said Boone, who declined to speculate on a timetable for Sánchez's return.

The 26-year-old, an All-Star for the second time, is batting .229 with 24 homers and 58 RBIs. He was hitting .274 through June 21, but he is 10 for 85 (.118) since then with one homer and six RBIs. He hit the ball hard in his last two at-bats on Tuesday, but Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco made a pair of sharp defensive plays to initiate the groundouts.

The Yankees also optioned right-hander Jonathan Holder to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and recalled catcher Kyle Higashioka and left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. from the RailRiders.