SENDOFF IS A RUDE ONE
Dellin suffers setback so rehab is now on hold
CLEVELAND — Dellin Betances was shut down from his rehab on Friday and will be heading back to New York to meet with Yankees team doctors on Monday. The set-up man experienced soreness in his lower shoulder/lat area after throwing to hitters for the first time since spring training on Wednesday.
“He ended up not throwing his side yesterday. (He) was sore, so he’s gone through testing down there in Tampa, saw the orthopedist and we’re going to bring him back to New York. He’s flying back to New York tomorrow, he’ll see (a doctor),” Aaron Boone said. “The original testing and all that was good. I think we’ll want to run through some more and have him see (a doctor) and everything.
“Hopefully it’s not serious, but we’ll know more in a couple days.”
Betances threw to hitters for the first time on Wednesday and said he felt fine during that. On Thursday, the 31-year-old reported feeling what they believed was normal soreness.
“The next day, which was (Friday), when he got out to start to long toss, he felt like it was still there,” Boone said. “So he backed off, which I think was wise.”
While Betances said that during spring training he felt something like “dead arm,” where the arm and shoulder feels weak or tired, Boone said that this soreness is more in the lower back area of the shoulder, which is where the lat is.
“Kind of back more lat is where he kind of felt it” Boone explained. “Glad he stopped (at long toss) before he got on the mound.”
This sounds hauntingly similar to what Luis Severino has gone through this season.
The Yankees’ ace was initially shut down right before his first spring training start with what the team said was inflammation in his right rotator cuff. His ramp up to get back on the mound, however, hit a snag and he was then diagnosed with a strained, or partially torn, right lat muscle.
A big part of the Yankees’ plan was to wield a dominant bullpen this season.
With Aroldis Chapman closing, Betances has been an incredibly effective set-up man the past few years. The Yankees brought back Zack Britton and brought in Adam Ottavino this winter to be able to shut down games early with a parade of dominant relievers including Betances.
Without him, it’s been a little extra work.
“Those guys have been so good. It’s just when you have another guy that’s dynamic as Dellin is, it’s more days where you’re maybe this guy went yesterday … It’s just another high-leverage guy,” Boone said. “You can protect each other a little bit more. It’s Dellin Betances. This guy is great.”
Betances, who is a free agent after this season, struggled to build up strength in the shoulder all spring. It showed in his velocity, his fastball lagging into the high 80s and touching 95 once. After weeks of waiting for his normal dead arm to shake off, Betances was initially diagnosed with an impingement and treated for inflammation in the final week of spring. During his second ramp-up of the year, doctors discovered a bone spur in his shoulder, one they had been aware of since they initially signed him, was causing discomfort.
Betances began his ramp up weeks ago and reported that he felt good and was “letting it go,” in the bullpen, but admitted that he is a guy that uses adrenaline to generate some of his velocity. He felt that facing hitters for the first time since spring training would give him that jolt.
“He’s a great pitcher, obviously, hopefully this is just something that slows it a little bit,” Boone said. “He’s obviously a very important player to what we do and hopefully this is not something that holds him down too long. No denying how important he is to our team.”