Former New York Yankees infielder Paul DeJong has had his 2026 season cut short.
DeJong signed a minor-league deal with the Detroit Tigers earlier this month after opting out of his minor-league deal with the Yankees. After not making New York’s Opening Day roster, he decided to stay in the system, but on May 1, he opted out of the deal after there were no signs of him reaching the MLB.
Since signing with the Tigers, he’s been playing in Triple-A, but it was revealed on Thursday that he’s set for season-ending hamstring surgery.
“Paul DeJong is having season-ending hamstring surgery,” MLB insider Jon Heyman wrote on X.
With DeJong having a season-ending injury, the hope is that he will be ready for spring training as he’ll look to land with another team in the offseason and return to the MLB in 2027.
DeJong was an All-Star in 2019 with the St. Louis Cardinals, but he has struggled the last couple of seasons and has bounced around teams.
In the Yankees system this year, DeJong hit .203 with 6 home runs and 13 RBIs in 23 games, but it wasn’t enough to earn a call-up. He’s spent parts of nine years in the MLB.
DeJong Had Moments With Yankees
With Anthony Volpe missing the beginning of the season, DeJong was looking to crack New York’s Opening Day roster.
Early on in camp, the veteran infielder impressed as Yankees manager Aaron Boone even mentioned how good he looked, according to The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty.
“Boone said veteran non-roster invitee Paul DeJong has ‘looked really good.’”
Yet, despite DeJong looking good in camp, he ended up not making the team’s Opening Day roster and later opted out of his minor league deal.
DeJong has appeared in 925 career MLB games, hitting .229 with 146 home runs and 423 RBIs. His best season was in 2019 when he was named an All-Star, as he hit 30 home runs and 78 RBIs.
New York Gets Positive Injury News
The Yankees, meanwhile, got some good injury news of their own on Thursday.
Star center fielder Trent Grisham left Wednesday’s game due to an injury and wasn’t in the lineup for the series finale. Despite that, the scans on his knee came back clean, which is good news as he may not need an IL stint.
“There’s some inflammation, some bruising, a few times this year – but it’s kind of unrelated,” Grisham said. “It’s more on the top of the knee, the kneecap, where I was bruising everything. It was hurting me more on the inside [Wednesday].”
Grisham, meanwhile, didn’t think the injury was serious and was confident he wouldn’t be out for long.
“Anytime you get something in your knee, I guess you’re a little worried,” Grisham said. “Like I said last night, I was pretty optimistic just with how I was feeling that there would be no structural damage, but it’s still good to get the news.”
Whether or not Grisham will be able to get back in the lineup on Friday is to be seen.
Grisham is hitting .174 with 6 home runs and 27 RBIs this season, as he’s struggled at the plate.
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