This is the opportunity Jacoby Ellsbury may never again see

Somehow, while healing from a muscle thingy, Jacoby Ellsbury tweaked a hip.

That's not a joke, though, you almost want to laugh. How did it happen? My guess is that The Chief, while playing mixed canasta with Jennifer Steinbrenner and the ghost of Stump Merrill in a Tampa rec room, jumped up too quickly after yelling "Three Deuces!" And now he's gone until - when - June? With Ellsbury, missed time flows in increments of months.

Last week, juicy whispers across the ether of the Yankiverse suggested Ells would return soon to replace the ailing Aaron Hicks, who might just be a younger version of Jacko. (Or maybe that distinction belongs to Greg Bird.) Now, his return is a punch line. He's ready to replace Nick Johnson as the all-time anti-Cal Ripken Jr., the least healthy Yankee since Babe Ruth discovered absinthe.

In the last two days, the Yankees have plucked two Scranton-worthy outfielders from the MLB recycling bin. (Of the two, Trayce Thompson might be interesting; he was decent two years ago, before injuring his back; if fully recovered... wait a minute... did I just write that? "If fully recovered..." WHY AM I BOTHERING? WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?) The signings are signs that neither Ellsbury nor Clint Frazier (concussion, scary) nor Billy McKinney (shoulder) are healing quickly. They come barely a month after the Yankees jettisoned Jabari Blash and Jake Cave, seemingly because they had too many outfielders for their own good. 

Of course, they won't toss Ellsbury overboard, unless they want to go down with his $21 million per year anvil of a contract, which has the Yankees looking forward to 2020 even more than Melania.

So, while we wait for Hicks, we wait for Ellsbury, for Red Thunder, for McKinney, for somebody. As long as the team keeps hitting, or as long as Aaron Judge doesn't run into Giancarlo in left-center - (an apocalyptic likelihood that increases whenever they are out there) - the Yankees can wait. It's a bad idea to make grand pronouncements in April. Still, for Ellsbury, this hip thingy couldn't have happened at a worse time. The Yankees really need him, and he's not there.