Shocker! Nick the Sick Johnson is hurting for certain

Of all the moves that Brian Cashman made this winter, bringing back former Yankee Nick Johnson was one of his worst, given the player's propensity for injury. Why Cash would bring him back I will never understand. I don't care how good Johnson's OBP is - he will never be able to stay healthy enough in order to put his ability to draw walks to good use.


Anyhow, I was planning on doing a Subway Squawker pool, where we'd pick a date for when Nick Johnson would get his first injury, and venture a guess as to what he would hurt. Too late.

Exactly one game into the Grapefruit League season, Johnson got hurt. He suffered a back strain Thursday, and was scratched from the Yankees' second spring training game.

Here's Johnson's explanation:

Johnson said that he tweaked his back after catching a spike in a turf mat around the batting cage at Bright House Field. Had it been the regular season, Johnson said he would have played "for sure."

Oh great. Johnson has Carl Pavano's propensity for freak accidents. Boy, I'm glad the Yankees passed on re-signing that creaky old Johnny Damon for this picture of health!

Beat writer Chad Jennings has a listing of Nick the Sick's many, many injuries over the years:

He strained his left wrist in 2002, fractured his right hand in 2003, broke his cheekbone in 2004, and suffered a right heel contusion in 2005. All required a trip to the 15-day disabled list. In 2006, a violent collision with teammate Austin Kearns fractured Johnson's right femur, forcing him to miss the end of that season and all of the next season. In 2008 he had season-ending surgery to repair the tendon sheath in his right wrist, and in 2009 he went on the DL with a strained right hamstring.


All told, Johnson has been on the 15-day disabled list nine times, and been transferred to the 60-day disabled list four times. He's played more than 133 games in a season only once, and played fewer than 100 games four times.

It would be great if Johnson's back strain was just a momentary blip, but I'm afraid this is going to be the first of many injuries this year. Come to think of it, why didn't the Mets sign Nick to play first base for them? He'd fit right in with that crew!


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