Yankees admit missteps in handling of Severino’s injuries
LONDON — The New York Yankees’ 2019 season has been defined by two facts: injuries and the victories they achieved despite those injuries.
Twenty different Yankees, many of them key players such as Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Dellin Betances, have spent time on the injured list through half the season — matching the total for all of 2018. The dramatic increase has to led to an internal investigation into the team’s medical and training practices, but until recently there had been little public admission of conclusions drawn or missteps.
On Sunday, general manager Brian Cashman provided one example: injured ace Luis Severino, who has been out all season with shoulder and latissimus dorsi muscle injuries, probably should have received another magnetic resonance imaging examination before being allowed to resume throwing in June.
“Clearly, in hindsight, he should have never started his throwing program,” Cashman said.
Over the weekend, manager Aaron Boone admitted that Severino, who had been expected to progress to throwing off a mound soon, had recently felt soreness in the area of his injured lat. That led to a shut down for about another week. Boone said another MRI had revealed that Severino’s lat was only 90% healed.
Cashman said the Yankees medical staff had allowed Severino to resume throwing without an MRI because one isn’t normally required after a period of inactivity and because Severino passed the requisite physical tests and showed plenty of strength. Looking back, Cashman admitted some regret.
“He doesn’t like going in the MRI tube and it’s something he would’ve pushed back on,” Cashman said of Severino. “But clearly, if we turned the clock back, we would’ve done an MRI three weeks ago.”
Braves’ Swarzak out until after the break
Atlanta Braves reliever Anthony Swarzak has been placed on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his pitching shoulder, a significant blow to the bullpen for the NL East leaders.
The team hopes Swarzak will be ready to return immediately after the All-Star break on July 12.
Righthander Chad Sobotka was recalled from Class AAA Gwinnett.
Swarzak has provided a major boost to the Braves since arriving from Seattle in a May 20 trade. He has allowed only one run in 17 ⅓ innings and thrown 13 consecutive scoreless innings.