Darren O'Day was doing pregame sprints in the outfield at T-Mobile Park on July 6 when he thought one of his Yankees teammates had run into him. As he fell to the ground and rolled around in pain, he heard a popping sound and knew exactly what had happened.

O¡¯Day had strained his left hamstring -- the same one that required season-ending surgery to repair in June 2018, when he was with the Orioles. On Tuesday, the Yankees announced that the same course of action would be necessary for the right-handed reliever, who had been on the 10-day injured list since that day in Seattle.

It marked the second time O¡¯Day had gone on the IL this season, after missing May and nearly all of June with a right rotator cuff strain. He made only two appearances for the Yankees in between those stints, tossing 1 2/3 innings against the Angels and Mets.

O¡¯Day will undergo surgery on his hamstring on Wednesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery, with the procedure performed by Dr. Brian Kelly.

¡°[It¡¯s] extremely disappointing,¡± said O¡¯Day. ¡°I was just coming back from a shoulder injury, starting to feel better and excited to be back with the team contributing again. And to have all that wiped out in one moment is really tough.¡±

In speaking with doctors and seeing the results of subsequent MRIs, O¡¯Day learned that his hamstring never fully healed between the two injuries, admitting ¡°this was bound to happen at some point.¡± He was told by the surgeon who led the 2018 operation that in a certain percentage of repairs, that proves to be the case, adding ¡°there¡¯s no rhyme or reason to it.¡±

¡°If I ever want to play baseball again or if I want to live the life I want to live post-baseball, then I have to get it fixed,¡± O¡¯Day said. ¡°And unfortunately, the timeframe puts me out of this season.¡±

The 38-year-old O¡¯Day acknowledged that there¡¯s a possibility that his latest injury could also be career-ending. He has spent 14 seasons in the Major Leagues, spending half of those years with the O¡¯s while also playing for the back-to-back American League champion Rangers in 2010-11. He had short stints with the Braves, Mets and Angels as well before joining the Yankees as a free agent last offseason.

¡°I really came here to New York for two reasons,¡± O¡¯Day said. ¡°I just wanted to see what it was like to play here -- legendary organization. As I said in my first press conference, it¡¯s every little boy¡¯s dream to play for the Yankees. There¡¯s just so much history as I sit here and look around at these posters on the wall.

¡°And the main goal was to win a World Series. ... I¡¯ve gotten really close a couple of times but never been able to quite get there. So that¡¯s what I came here for, and those are the things that flashed in my mind with all that time and effort, sacrifice [it takes] to be here and still keep that dream alive. So for the rest of this season, I¡¯ll have to be dreaming vicariously through my teammates and watching them and helping them in any way I can.¡±

With about a six-month rehab process awaiting him, O¡¯Day isn¡¯t sure what the future holds. He has a $1.4 million player option in his contract that he could exercise for the 2022 season, but whether he takes it will be a topic of deliberation as the year rolls on. He made it clear, however, that there¡¯s only one factor that will impact his decision the most.

¡°I was never really even supposed to make it to the Major Leagues. I wasn¡¯t a big prospect and I didn¡¯t anticipate making enough money to live on. Somehow, it¡¯s worked out that we¡¯ll be comfortable.

¡°At this point in my career, it¡¯s all about winning.¡±