Yankees manager Aaron Boone provided updates to the media today on several players on the roster. Notably, right-hander Scott Effross had back surgery in December and likely won’t be ready until the summer, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. In a more benign update, catcher Jose Trevino had a calf strain a few weeks ago and is a bit behind but is still expected to be ready by Opening Day, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
Effross, 30, once looked like a nice pickup for the Yankees. The sidearmer made his debut in the majors with the Cubs in 2021 and was flipped to the Yankees at the 2022 deadline, with Hayden Wesneski going the other way. Between the two clubs, Effross made 74 appearances over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, allowing just 2.78 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 27.9% of batters faced, walked just 5.6% of them and got grounders on 45.1% of balls in play. He even looked to be moving towards a closer’s role, earning four saves and 19 holds in that time.
But he’s been on the shelf since late 2022 and now seems to be staying there. He landed on the injured list in August of 2022 due to a shoulder strain. In October of that year, it was announced that he would require Tommy John surgery, wiping out his entire 2023 season. Now this back surgery is going to prevent him from pitching in the first half of the 2024 campaign.
It’s an unfortunate series of events for a pitcher who was on such a positive trajectory. Assuming he is able to return at some point this summer, he’ll be looking to get back on track after a layoff of almost two full years. The Yanks will likely place him on the 60-day injured list once they need a roster spot. He’s slated to qualify for arbitration for the first time after this year and is on pace for free agency after 2027.
Without Effross, the high-leverage roles in the Yankee bullpen will go to Clay Holmes, Jonathan Loáisiga, Tommy Kahnle and Caleb Ferguson. Since the surgery happened months ago, the club has surely been aware of it and it shouldn’t suddenly lead to a change in their roster-building plans. But if they do decide to add to the relief mix, guys like Ryne Stanek, Brad Boxberger, Brad Hand and Aaron Loup are still available in free agency.
Trevino, 31, is projected to form part of the club’s catching duo alongside Austin Wells. He only played 55 games in 2023 due to wrist surgery but will be looking to get back on track to the form he showed in 2022. He played 115 games that year with roughly average offense for a catcher but his superlative defense led to him being valued as worth 3.8 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs,.
So it begins already for the Yankees!!!
That sucks. I loved this trade but I really liked Effross. He’s gone through so much since being traded to the Yankees. Hoping he has a speedy recovery.
Yet another reason that makes the Krook DFA puzzling, unless a trade is on the horizon or Boone is going to put Groshans in the BP…..
So the Yankees injury saga begins, not even a week into Spring Training. This is just the beginning. Stanton will get laid up because he is muscle-bound and not in baseball shape. Judge’s leg will fall off as he propels 6′ 7″ of himself around center field. I won’t even start on the bandaid pitching staff.
So much for 2024 and it’s just the first week.
Agree, they didnt just find out about Effross. something got to be in the works. I hope so.
Yeah. They acquired Ferguson.
Surgery in December and now Dr. Boonedoggle is figuring out he’s not ready. Doi.
The Cubs sold broken goods. Send back Wesneski! Actually, wouldn’t want him back.
Probably from throwing like a weirdo.
December they knew about this… this secretive culture around injuries has got to change man.