Ailing Yank pitchers a long way from returning
Help has to come from the outside. The existing pitching the Yankees hoped could help their rotation and bullpen is not coming to the rescue anytime soon.
Luis Severino said Tuesday that he expects to be on the mound as soon as next week, but that would probably mean he’d return to the big leagues in August at best. Dellin Betances said he has not even begun playing catch after his latest injury and lefty Jordan Montgomery had a setback in his recovery from Tommy John surgery on Tuesday.
Montgomery left a live batting practice session in Tampa after just 15 pitches.
“He walked off, he had a little discomfort. Hoping it’s more than just not feeling great on a particular day which can tend to happen when you are coming
back,” Yankee manager Aaron Boone said. “You can have some ups and downs. I don't have much more on that at this point.”
The Yankees had hoped Montgomery could be a lateseason reinforcement for their rotation or bullpen this season.
Severino is making progress from his strained lat, but it is slow. He advanced from 90 to 105 feet for the first time on Tuesday and is aiming to get on the mound June 26 or 26, but that would be just the beginning of a spring training ramp up for the Yankees ace. A healthy spring training usually takes pitchers five weeks; the Yankees, who extended Severino on a four-year $40 million deal this spring, will be more cautious with him.
“I've been feeling good. I've been at 90 feet for like a week. I feel like I can go more,” Severino said. “I understand they want to get it right. They don't want something to happen and set you back. I'd rather be like this and be healthy when I come back.”
Betances had begun throwing to live batters when he suffered his latest set back, a strained lat muscle.
“I'm not coming back in the first half. The second half, I don't know when. I still haven't thrown,” Betances said. “We'll see when that is.”
Betances said he did not feel the lat injury during the live batting practice session, but in the days after. He has no idea how it happened.
”I think it was the couple of days after that live BP. I didn't feel good playing catch,” Betances said. “The day of the side, I shut it down. I didn't feel right in my lat. My shoulder felt great, but my lat, I've never felt anything in that area. I decided to speak up.”
Betances said he is still feeling the discomfort in his right lat.
“At this point I hope that I'm feeling better quick so I won't lose as much as I have. I felt like I was on the right path. Hopefully I feel better after this week and we'll go from there. I think I've got to wait until I feel good in that area.”
The Yankees have been scouring the big leagues for starting pitching. They missed out on free agent lefty Dallas Keuchel and are now looking at potential trades. They have had scouts watching the Tigers' Matthew Boyd and the Mets Zack Wheeler recently.
JUDGING HIMSELF READY
Aaron Judge crushed a fifthinning home run and went 1for-2 with two walks and a strikeout Tuesday night in his minor league rehab game with Triple-A Scranton. Judge, who has been on the IL since April 21 with a strained left oblique muscle, is expected to return to the big league lineup some time this week.
After the game, he joked with reporters he's going to have to try and crack a lineup that has been winning without him.
“I've been ready. It's just about getting the reps in and making sure this thing stays healthy. And there hasn't been any issues, so ready to go,” Judge told reporters. “But those guys are rolling up there, so I don't know if I can crack that lineup. We'll see. We'll see.”