Yankees reliever Britton to miss months after elbow surgery

TAMPA, Fla — New York Yankees left-hander Zack Britton is scheduled for surgery Monday to remove a bone chip from his pitching elbow and seems likely to be out until at least May.

Britton will not be able to throw for several weeks while the incision heals after the operation by Yankees head team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad at New York-presbyterian Hospital. Britton will then need to build arm strength.

“It’s going to get taken care of, and I’ll be able to pitch this year and help the team. And so that’s the most important thing,” he said Wednesday. “Could I rehab through it and possibly come back and it wouldn’t impact me? There was a chance. But we like the chances better of me coming back this season and pitching at a high level if I just got it removed now. If this was during the season, I’m not sure surgery would be the decision.”

Left-hander Aroldis Chapman is the Yankees’ closer, and manager Aaron Boone said he will mix and match during the sixth, seventh and eighth innings with righthander Chad Green, side-arming right-hander Darren O’day, lefthander Justin Wilson and righthander Esteban Loaisiga.

“Obviously, Zack’s so important to our team and the back end of our bullpen. So it’s certainly a blow,” Boone said. “But it’s also one that we know he’s going to be back and, especially again in a weird season, maybe in a way, this can be something that allows him to stay fresher throughout the season.”

Britton’s start of spring training was slowed as he recovered from COVID-19, which he suspects he contracted while at a hospital for his wife to give birth.

“It wiped me out pretty good for about 10 days,” he said. “Lost about 18 pounds, which could be good, I guess, right? But I wasn’t looking to lose 18 pounds, and it happened quickly, so that’s not good on your body and puts pressure in a lot of places.”