BACK ISSUE MAY SEND HOLLIDAY TO THE DL

CLEVELAND - Matt Holliday became a candidate for the 10-day disabled list on Saturday, due to a left lower back issue.

The struggling Yankees designated hitter "tweaked" his back on a swing in Friday night's 7-2 loss the Indians, but he didn't inform manager Joe Girardi until Saturday afternoon.

Now, "we've got to decide what we're going to do," Girardi said of the DL option before Saturday night's game at Progressive Field. "He's had some left lower back issues before. We hope it's not too long.

"We've got to make an evaluation, the severity of it."

Holliday's performance has taken a nosedive since June 22. He's slashing .120/.155/.174 over his last 23 games (22 starts), with two doubles a home run, four RBI and 29 strikeouts, sinking his season batting average from .275 to .229.

The 37-year-old's troubles began with an 0-for-11 stretch before landing on the DL, due to a viral infection. But since coming off the DL to start the second half, Holliday is 11-for-81 (.136), while the Yanks have lately been in a team-wide offensive stall in losing four straight games entering Saturday.

Holliday was not available to play on Saturday, leaving Girardi with a two-man bench of rookies Clint Frazier and Tyler Wade.

"We'll take a day to see where he's at," Girardi said of Holliday, who might require tests. "I think you have to decide fairly quickly how long (he's) going to be (out)."

Outfielder Aaron Hicks is not an immediate option to replace Holliday on the roster. Returning from an oblique injury, Hicks has played in three minor league rehab games and could be back in the Yanks' lineup by next weekend.

Gary Sanchez served as Saturday's DH, and his defensive struggles behind the plate - leading the majors with 12 passed balls - might make him an ideal candidate for regular DH duty, though Girardi still sees Sanchez as his regular catcher.

Already with four outfielders in Clint Frazier, Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Jacoby Ellsbury, there are "different things you can do" with the DH spot, Girardi said. "We'll look at it as we go forward."

Though Yankee observers don't feel that Holliday's strength has been an issue since his viral infection, back issues might have played a part in his recent struggles, causing him to pull the ball more instead of driving balls to center and right-center field, his natural tendencies.

Girardi has seen Holliday "kind of in between the fastball and the breaking ball. He just seemed a little bit off," Girardi said. "We've got to get him back on track because you look at the first half this guy had for us, he was very important.

"We have a lot of belief in that he's going to play a big part (of a push toward October)," Girardi said. "Right now, we've got to get him healthy."