Thursday, however, marked the halfway point between the opening of camp and Opening Day, and the Yankees are fortunate that while the injury list still contains those four players, only a few more have been added at any point for any reason this spring.
First baseman Ji-Man Choi was among them for a few days earlier this week, but with his return Thursday and the turn of the calendar to Friday, there are now seven Yankees who either remain shut down or are in the midst of returning from one.
There is nothing new on catcher Kellin Deglan, who was shut down last week with shoulder soreness and is in the middle of his two-week timeline, but here are updates on the other six, courtesy of the players themselves and/or manager Joe Girardi.
1B/OF TYLER AUSTIN
Austin had another scan on his left foot on Thursday, which showed that the navicular bone he fractured three weeks ago is healing but not all the way healed.
"Tyler is not ready to be out of the boot or off his scooter, but it is progressing and we were happy with what we saw," Girardi said Friday.
Austin, too, was happy, saying that "I knew three weeks was going to be a bit too early (to remove the boot), but they told me everything is going good, and I'm happy with where it's at. I'm still hopeful I can get back into action before the end (of Spring Training)."
OF MASON WILLIAMS
Williams, who was shut down on the same day (Feb. 17) as Austin's injury was announced, was cleared for baseball activity last weekend. That began with tee and toss over the weekend, continued with light running in the outfield as of Monday, and progressed to batting practice on Thursday.
The outfielder took longer batting practice on Friday and also ramped up his running on Friday, and Girardi's hope is that the outfielder "will be a player for us sometime next week."
RHP RONALD HERRERA
On February 21, Girardi revealed that Herrera would be shut down for 10 to 14 days with shoulder inflammation. The high end of that timeline was Tuesday, and indeed, Herrera was back on the mound a day later, throwing a bullpen on Wednesday.
"He threw today and came through good, so that was a good sign," Girardi said Wednesday, and the plan is to have Herrera throw again this weekend.
LHP JAMES REEVES
The same day Herrera was shut down, so too was Reeves, whose timeline was given as three to four weeks because of a mild elbow sprain. The lefty is just shy of the low end of that timeline right now, and while there's no plan to move forward yet, he's optimistic about the prognosis.
"It was a little bit of a sprain, but everything is feeling good," Reeves said Thursday. "We're just resting, but hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later."
OF BILLY MCKINNEY
McKinney, who was a late addition to camp when Williams was shut down, was scratched from scheduled outings Wednesday and Thursday, and Girardi revealed why on Friday.
"If you're wondering about McKinney, he's had the flu," Girardi said. "I was hoping he'd be a player today but he's still not right, and I don't want to run someone out there if they're dehydrated or not feeling up to par."
RHP LUIS CESSA
The last "injury" update is on Cessa, who was scratched from his scheduled start in Clearwater Friday for a similar reason as McKinney.
"Cessa had a fever last night, so Chad Green will start and Chance Adams will pitch behind him today instead. "It may be going around, so I told Luis I just didn't want him to get anyone else sick. Our hope is that we can get him into a simulated game tomorrow."