"The Yankees bullpen has suffered its latest casualty.

Joba Chamberlain was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday after an MRI revealed an issue with his flexor tendon that caused tenderness in the area. He will be shut down for 10 to 14 days before beginning a throwing program, meaning the Yankees will likely be without him for at least three weeks.

Chamberlain had helped the bullpen absorb major losses to injury. He filled in as the team's set up man to replace Rafael Soriano, who has been on the disabled list since May 14 with right elbow inflammation. The bullpen has also been without left-hander Pedro Feliciano since spring training, an absence the Yankees have coped with by leaning more heavily on Chamberlain and David Robertson.

Now, Robertson will slide into the eighth-inning role with secondary relievers such as Luis Ayala and Boone Logan expected to carry a heavier load.

"He's been big for us in the absence of Soriano, so other guys are going to have to step up," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Chamberlain. "Robby will be moved back, Ayala and Logan will be expected to carry part of that load that Robby was doing."

Part of the reason the Yankees signed Soriano to a three-year, $35 million contract was Chamberlain's struggles in his first crack as the team's set-up man last year, when he eventually lost the job to midseason acquisition Kerry Wood."