How Yankees avoided a catching catastrophe

Yankees catcher Austin Romine was out of Sunday’s lineup, with Kyle Higashioka slated to start in his place after Romine took a foul tip to the face mask …

NEW YORK — Early Sunday morning, Yankees catcher Austin Romine, it at least appeared, was in good spirits and of sound mind.

Asked how he felt, Romine picked up his head and smiled.

“I feel good,” he said. “How do you feel?”

Romine wasn’t in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.

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That was by design, after Romine took a foul ball off the face mask and was later pulled from an 11-6 win over Toronto on Sunday.

Romine stumbled backward and plate umpire David Rackley caught Romine to kepe him upright. Team trainer Steve Donohue examined Romine on the field, determined he was OK to continue playing, and Romine stayed behind the plate for two more outs.

Manager Aaron Boone pulled Romine out of the game in the inning’s bottom half after watching the replay and deciding it wasn’t worth it to keep Romine in. The team’s training staff examined the 28-year-old more during the game.

Did he pass the tested?

“All of them,” Romine said. “They were extensive and to the point.”

Romine said he believed he would have been able to play Sunday if needed.

Boone said the team would put him through more tests before Sunday’s game to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion.

“Came in this morning OK, we’ll run him, get his heart rate up, get him on the bike just make sure that he’s symptom-free, and if that’s the case then he’ll be a reserve for us today,” Boone said. “So far, so good as far as how he’s responded and he we believe how he is, so we’ll continue to monitor that closely.”

The ball hit Romine on the chin portion of his face mask.

“I think I might have a bruise right here on my chin,” the catcher said. “But everything is good. Nothing back here (pointing toward the back of his jaw). No soreness. I was kind of amazed because that ball kind of hit me good.”

He thanked Rackley for having his back.

“I’m happy he caught me,” Romine said. “When I see him out there, I’m going to have to shoot him a thank you. It’s kind of like a brotherhood back there, I guess you could say. When they get hit, you want to turn around quick because you can hear the sound and you want to make sure they don’t fall. You don’t want anybody to go down. They take care of us. We take care of them. I’ve got to make sure I saw thank you to him because that was nice of him.”

Losing Romine for an extended period would be a big blow to the Yankees, who already have Gary Sanchez (right groin strain) on the disabled list. Sanchez isn’t expected to return for at least another week and a half.

It’s unclear who would be behind third-catcher Kyle Higashioka, who was slated to start Sunday, on the team’s depth chart.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.