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Corey Kluber

Yankees Activate Corey Kluber, Transfer Zack Britton To 60-Day Injured List

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AUGUST 30, 6:22 pm: Britton is likely to undergo a procedure to remove bone chips from his elbow, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (Twitter link).

AUGUST 30, 6:10 pm: Kluber has officially been reinstated from the 60-day IL, the team announced. Right-hander Albert Abreu was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last night to open an active roster spot. To create space on the 40-man roster, New York transferred reliever Zack Britton from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Britton just landed on the 10-day IL on August 23. Today’s transfer rules him out for sixty days from that date — in all likelihood marking an end to his season. That’s a disappointing but not entirely surprising development, as Britton has been dealing with an elbow sprain that might require surgical repair.

AUGUST 26: The Yankees are planning to activate Corey Kluber in time to start Monday’s game. Luis Severino has also been cleared to begin throwing again, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (Twitter links).

Getting Kluber back for the stretch run would be a significant boon for a Yankees team that’s definitively trending upward. There will be a ripple effect in the rotation, however. For the short term, Andrew Heaney will likely piggyback with Kluber’s start, adds The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler. The pairing should benefit both hurlers as Kluber works himself up to full speed and Heaney attempts to re-calibrate after a difficult start to his Yankee career.

Kluber has been out since May 26th, but he posted a solid 10 starts prior to going down — most notably, of course, the no-hitter he threw against his former team, the Rangers, on May 19th. Kluber would start just one more game after that effort in Texas, however.

Hoch provided an update on another injured Yankee: Gleyber Torres will look to begin a rehab assignment shortly. The hope is that he could be ready to re-join the team at the start of their home stand on September 3rd.

2021-22 Qualifying Offer Candidates

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With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror and a little more than six weeks remaining in the regular season, plenty of front offices are turning their attention towards the upcoming offseason. The first notable decision for many clubs will be to decide whether to tag one or more of their top impending free agents with a qualifying offer.

As a reminder, the qualifying offer is a one-year contract offer teams can make to certain impending free agents. The precise value of the QO has yet to be calculated, but it’s determined as the average salary of the game’s 125 highest-paid players. Last season, the QO value was set at $18.9MM. If the player accepts the offer, he returns to his current team on that one-year deal. If he rejects, his previous team would receive draft pick compensation should he sign elsewhere.

Last season, six players (George Springer, Trevor Bauer, J.T. Realmuto, DJ LeMahieu, Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman) received qualifying offers. Gausman and Stroman accepted the QO, while Realmuto and LeMahieu re-signed with their current clubs as free agents. The Reds and Astros received compensatory picks (used on Jay Allen and Chayce McDermott, respectively) when Bauer and Springer departed.

The collective bargaining agreement prohibits a player from being tagged with a qualifying offer multiple times in his career. (A list of every active big leaguer who has previously received a QO is available here). Similarly, in order to be eligible, the player must have spent the entire preceding season on the same team. Players traded midseason cannot be tagged with a QO.

With the majority of the 2021 season in the books, we can take a look at the upcoming free agent class to predict which players might wind up receiving qualifying offer this winter.

Locks

This group is fairly straightforward, as there’s very little chance any of these players would accept a qualifying offer. Correa, Seager and Freeman all have MVP-caliber upside and are locks to pull in long-term deals this winter. Semien didn’t receive a QO from the A’s after a down year in 2020, took a pillow contract with the Jays for almost the value of the QO ($18MM), and has essentially replicated his 2019 form that earned him a third place finish in AL MVP voting. He should find a big multi-year deal this time around.

Story is having a bit of a down year, but there’s no doubt the Rockies will make him a qualifying offer after not trading him at the deadline. Nick Groke of the Athletic wrote this week that Colorado hasn’t given up hope of convincing him to sign a long-term extension, but that seems unlikely given Story’s own bewilderment he wasn’t moved to a contender this summer. Whether Story is willing to return to Denver or not, he’ll receive a QO.

Kershaw, Ray and Rodón will be among the top pitchers on the market. Kershaw has spent the past couple months on the injured list due to forearm soreness, but he’s expected back in September and is in the midst of another fantastic season. So long as he’s healthy, he’s a lock for a QO. Ray and Rodón both had to settle for one-year deals after poor 2020 seasons, but they’ve each been among the best pitchers in the American League this year.

Likely

Over the past two seasons, Taylor has somewhat quietly been one of the game’s top 25 qualified hitters by measure of wRC+ and he’s versatile enough to cover any non-catcher position on the diamond. He’s not a true everyday player at any one spot and he’s making contact at a career-worst rate this season, so he falls just short of being an absolute lock for a QO. But the Dodgers would be as willing as any team to shoulder a significant one-year salary were Taylor to accept, and his body of work should be sufficient to warrant a multi-year deal regardless.

The Mets’ players in this group are two of the more interesting free agents in the class. Conforto entered the season looking like a lock for a QO and seemingly having a chance at landing nine figures with a strong platform year. He missed a month with injury, though, and hasn’t made anywhere near his typical level of impact at the plate. He’s shown some life over the past few weeks, and between his track record and age (28), Conforto still seems a good bet to land a long-term deal.

Syndergaard was a top-of-the-rotation starter at his peak, but he hasn’t pitched since 2019 because of Tommy John surgery. He’s eyeing a September return — likely in relief, given his dwindling time to build up arm strength — and his late-season form will obviously be critical to his market. The Mets should run one of the higher payrolls in the league, and Syndergaard has the upside to be an ace if healthy, so New York still seems more likely than not to make the offer.

Similarly, Verlander has essentially missed two full seasons because of his own Tommy John procedure. That’s a scary development for a pitcher who’ll be 39 on Opening Day 2022, but he was still every bit an ace when we last saw him in 2018-19. The Astros are a win-now club that runs high payrolls, so Verlander accepting a QO wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. If he declines and signs elsewhere, Houston would recoup some much-needed draft compensation after losing their past two first-round picks as punishment for the sign-stealing scandal.

Colorado reportedly showed even less interest in trading Gray than they did with Story at the deadline. There’s apparently mutual interest about working out a multi-year extension, and the QO could serve as a temporary measure to keep Gray in Denver while the Rockies and Gray’s representatives work on a long-term deal.

Rodríguez has bounced back to take the ball every fifth day this year after a scary bout with myocarditis cost him all of 2020. His ERA’s pushing 5.00, but his peripherals are far better than that bottom line run prevention and the southpaw has an established track record of mid-rotation production.

The Mariners are facing a difficult decision regarding Kikuchi, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored last month. Seattle must decide whether to exercise a package deal of four successive club options at $16.5MM apiece (essentially a four-year, $66MM extension) this winter. If the Mariners don’t exercise their four-year option, Kikuchi has a $13MM player option to return to Seattle for 2022. If both parties decline their ends, the 30-year-old would hit free agency this offseason, although the M’s could then tag Kikuchi with a qualifying offer.

Given that Kikuchi will only be a free agent if he passes on a $13MM player option, the Mariners would likely make him a QO worth a few million dollars more if it comes to that — either with the expectation he’ll decline in search of a longer-term deal, or with the hope he accepts and Seattle can keep him in the fold next season without committing themselves to the additional three years of guaranteed money.

Possible

The Giants have plenty of payroll space this offseason and seem likely to try to keep most of this season’s core together. Belt has been one of the sport’s most productive offensive players on a rate basis over the past two years. But he’s also 33 years old, has a long injury history and is striking out at the highest rate of his career.

San Francisco bought low on DeSclafani over the winter after he had a tough 2020 season with the Reds. He’s bounced back to post a very strong 3.26 ERA, although his peripherals are closer to average and he’s benefitted from opponents’ .257 batting average on balls in play. The Giants will likely see 4/5 of their starting rotation hit free agency this winter, so they could be eager to bring DeSclafani back, even if that comes via a lofty 2022 salary.

Morton has had another productive season in his first year as a Brave, but his previous two teams (the Astros in 2018 and the Rays in 2020) let him reach free agency without making a qualifying offer despite his consistently strong track record. That’s presumably due to concerns about his past injury history and age. He’ll turn 38 this winter and might check his potential earning power by limiting himself to teams in the Southeastern part of the country — as he reportedly did last offseason. That could inspire the Braves to pass on a QO, but Morton continually reels off above-average performances, and this is an Atlanta front office that has been eager to dole out hefty single-year salaries for key veteran upgrades in recent years.

Iglesias looks like the top impending free agent reliever (assuming the White Sox exercise their option over Craig Kimbrel). He’s sporting an ERA under 3.00 for the fifth time in his six seasons since moving to the bullpen, and he’s never had a single-season SIERA above 3.55. Home runs have been an issue, but Iglesias gets above-average results year in and year out and has some of the best strikeout and walk numbers in the game in 2021.

Long Shots

The Giants hold a $22MM club option (with a $3MM buyout) over Posey’s services for next season. If the front office is willing to commit him a significant salary, they’ll just exercise the option rather than going the QO route. Indeed, they’re reportedly planning to do exactly that (or to potentially pursue a multi-year extension with the franchise icon). Either way, there’s no real reason to involve the qualifying offer here.

Canha would be a very plausible qualifying offer candidate on many teams. He’s been a well above-average hitter and overall performer three years running and is generally one of the game’s more underrated players. The A’s, though, didn’t make a QO to either of Semien or Liam Hendriks last season. Canha’s a Bay Area native, and his age (33 in February) will cap the length of offers he receives from other clubs. Given that, it’s not hard to envision him accepting a QO if offered. The A’s, who perennially run low payrolls and will have a loaded class of arbitration-eligible players this winter, don’t seem likely to take that risk.

Wainwright has had a fantastic 2021 season, and the Cardinals figure to be motivated to keep the franchise icon in St. Louis in some capacity. But that also looked to be true after his strong 2020 campaign, and Wainwright only wound up landing a one-year, $8MM deal. He’d be well-deserved in demanding a raise over that sum to return next season, but it remains to be seen if the Cardinals would be willing to chance more than doubling his salary  — particularly if they feel Wainwright’s motivated to remain in St. Louis rather than pursue the highest possible offers in free agency.

Kluber signed an $11MM deal with the Yankees last offseason after back-to-back seasons wrecked by injury. He pitched well through ten starts but has been out since late May with a shoulder strain. Kluber’s nearing a return to action, but his missing nearly three months only adds to prior concerns about his ability to handle a significant workload at this stage of his career.

Kim, García and Wood are all having strong 2021 seasons and could plausibly land solid multi-year deals this winter. Each has enough question marks that their teams don’t seem especially likely to offer a salary in the range of the qualifying offer, though. Kim doesn’t miss many bats; García has had extreme highs and lows throughout his career; Wood has a checkered injury history. García’s contract contains a $12MM club option that vests into a mutual option if he reaches 492 plate appearances this season. If that option doesn’t vest, the Brewers would obviously have no incentive to decline the option only to make a qualifying offer at a higher price point.

Opt-Out Clauses

Each of Arenado (six years, $179MM), Castellanos (two years, $34MM) and Martinez (one year, $19.35MM) has significant guaranteed money remaining on their contracts but can opt out of those deals this winter. Arenado and Castellanos would be locks to reject qualifying offers if they trigger their opt-out provisions, since they’d be foregoing bigger guarantees to test the market.

Martinez’s player option is of similar enough value to the projected value of the qualifying offer that he could plausibly trigger the opt-out but then accept a QO. Even if that proved to be the case, the Red Sox would probably be happy to keep him in the middle of the lineup for another season.

Ineligible

AL Notes: Rogers, Bregman, Athletics, Kluber

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Unsurprisingly, Twins southpaw Taylor Rogers “is very popular on the trade market,” MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets.  There is enough interest that the reliever has a “good chance to be dealt” even though Minnesota is reportedly reluctant to move players who are under team control beyond this season.  Rogers has one more arbitration year remaining before free agency in the 2022-23 offseason.

Rogers has somewhat quietly been one of baseball’s most effective relievers since just about the moment of his MLB debut in 2016, as the left-hander has a 3.15 ERA, 27.9% strikeout rate, and a 22% K-BB rate over 314 2/3 career innings out of Minnesota’s bullpen.  He has kept up that form in 2021, with a 3.35 ERA and a whopping 35.5% strikeout rate that ranks 11th among all hurlers with at least 40 innings pitched this season.  This is the type of high-level performance that could be the difference-maker in a pennant race, so while the Twins undoubtedly have a huge asking price for Rogers, another team could be willing to take the plunge to upgrade its bullpen for both the rest of this season and into 2022.

More from around the American League…

  • Alex Bregman will start a Triple-A rehab assignment within the next few days, the Astros star told MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart and other reporters.  A left quad strain sent Bregman to the 10-day injured list on June 17, and though there was initial uncertainty around exactly how long Bregman might be out, the Astros’ series against the Twins on August 5-8 seems to look like the target date.  At the time of his injury, Bregman was hitting .275/.359/.428 with seven home runs over 262 plate appearances.
  • Before the Rays traded for Nelson Cruz, the Athletics gave some consideration to acquiring the slugger themselves, Shayna Rubin of the Bay Area News Group writes.  The A’s seemingly didn’t get close to a move, however, due to both the financial and prospect cost attached to Cruz, and Rubin wonders if payroll concerns in particular will keep the Athletics from making any particularly big deadline splashes.  While spending is always an issue for the club, money could be tighter than ever now that the A’s no longer receive revenue-sharing money — as per the last collective bargaining agreement, the Athletics were gradually phased out of the league’s revenue-sharing plan over a multi-year period.  That said, Billy Beane and company have been adept at finding lower-cost help at past deadlines, such Oakland’s trade for Tommy La Stella last year.
  • Corey Kluber threw a 25-pitch bullpen session on Friday, and the Yankees veteran told reporters (including ESPN’s Marly Rivera) that he is “very confident” that he’ll be able to return in 2021.  Kluber was initially targeted for a late-July return at the time of his IL placement for a shoulder strain, though Yankees GM Brian Cashman later threw some doubt into Kluber’s exact timeline, saying that the right-hander might not be back until September.  While Kluber certainly doesn’t look immediately close to an activation just yet, his mound work does represent progress, even if he described his 25 pitches as “easy fastballs…nothing like I would do in a regular bullpen session.”

Injury Updates: Betts, Castellanos, Kluber

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Mookie Betts left tonight’s game due to right hip irritation, according to the Dodgers.  After hitting a double in the seventh inning, Betts came up limping, and the injury looked to have occurred while he was rounding first base.  The hip problem ruined what had been a banner night for Betts, as that was his third double as part of a 4-for-4 performance.

Betts is now hitting .271/.375/.503 over 373 plate appearances, as he has been red-hot over the last month following something of a slow start (by his standards) to the 2021 season.  Betts’ semi-struggles early could have been due to some minor injuries, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters that the hip problem has been one of Betts’ “nagging” issues.  Roberts plans to have Betts back in the lineup as early as Monday, when the Dodgers begin a key series with the arch-rival Giants.

More on other injury situations around baseball…

  • Reds slugger Nick Castellanos left Friday night’s game after being hit in the right wrist by an Adrian Houser pitch, and Castellanos also wasn’t in tonight’s lineup.  X-rays were negative on Castellanos’ wrist, though it seems like he might get at least a day or two off for further examination.  Castellanos has been one of baseball’s best hitters this season, batting .330/.384/.583 with 18 home runs over 367 PA, and Cincinnati’s pennant race hopes would be badly stung if Castellanos had to be placed on the IL for any amount of time.
  • Corey Kluber might throw a bullpen session this coming Friday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler).  A rotator cuff strain sidelined Kluber back on May 26, and while he was initially projected for an eight-week recovery period, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said last month that September might be Kluber’s likelier return date.  Given the long absence and the fact that Kluber missed almost all of the 2019-20 seasons due to injury, the veteran right-hander is likely to require multiple bullpen sessions and a minor league rehab assignment before he can get back on a big league mound, which could account for Cashman’s extended timeline.  That said, it is a good sign that Kluber is beginning to ramp up throwing activities now, so an August return might not be out of the question.  Over 53 1/3 innings prior to his rotator cuff strain, Kluber looked good in posting a 3.04 ERA, showing some flashes of his old Cy Young Award-winning form.

AL East Notes: Mancini, Kirk, Anderson, McKay, Kluber

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In a bit of good news for Orioles’ fans, Trey Mancini will participate in this year’s Home Run Derby, per The Athletic’s Dan Connolly (via Twitter). Mancini should provide some feel-good coverage for the 2021 All-Star festivities. Having missed last season while being treated for stage 3 colon cancer, Mancini has returned to lead the Orioles with a .260/.337/.466 triple-slash line with 14 home runs and 52 runs batted in, good for a 121 wRC+. Let’s check in with the other clubs in the AL East…

  • Alejandro Kirk has joined the Blue Jays’ Triple-A club in Trenton with the possibility of returning from the injured list as early as July 1, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Kirk must first prove himself ready in Triple-A. After making the team out of spring training, Kirk has been out since May 2nd with a flexor strain. The Jays have also been without starter Danny Jansen for almost three weeks now. Riley Adams, who has three options remaining, will head back to Trenton whenever Kirk is ready.
  • Nick Anderson threw his second bullpen session for the Rays, and he appears on track for an August return. per Adam Berry of MLB.com (via Twitter). Anderson’s value as a bullpen ace is well-known after last year’s breakout campaign — 0.55 ERA in 16 1/3 regular-season innings. The Rays leaned hard on Anderson to get them to the World Series: he appeared in both games of the Wild Card sweep of the Blue Jays, two of the five games in their ALDS win over the Yankees, and three more apiece in the ALCS and World Series.
  • Brendan McKay is in line for a 30-pitch bullpen soon, Berry also notes, and if that goes well, he’ll start to build his strength up to a starter’s workload. McKay last appeared in competitive action in 2019, when he threw 49 innings at the big-league level with a 5.14 ERA/4.03 FIP.
  • The Yankees don’t expect to get Corey Kluber back until August at the earliest, but it could be as late as September, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (via Twitter). Kluber gave the Yankees exactly what they’d hoped in his ten starts: 3.04 ERA/3.77 FIP in 53 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, he also realized their fears when he suffered a shoulder strain that will ultimately knock him out for more than half the year.

 

Yankees Select Chris Gittens’ Contract

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1:01PM: Gittens has been officially signed to a Major League deal and selected to the Yankees’ roster.  Corey Kluber was moved to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man spot for Gittens.

9:37AM: The Yankees will select the contract of first baseman Chris Gittens prior to today’s game against the Red Sox, The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler reports (Twitter link).  Reliever Nick Nelson was optioned to Triple-A after last night’s game, so while there is an opening on the active roster, another transaction is necessary to add Gittens to the 40-man roster.

Now in his seventh pro season, “Hard Hittin’ Gittens” is set to make his Major League debut after being a 12th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2014 draft.  The 27-year-old is a classic first base/DH slugger, though not quite a three-true-outcomes type — Gittens has a .265/.375/.476 slash line and 75 homers over 1727 career plate appearances in the minors.  He does have 476 strikeouts on his resume, though Gittens has cut down on his strikeout rate considerably during what has been a breakout season at Triple-A.

Playing at Triple-A for the first time in his career, Gittens has hit .283/.486/.585 over 74 PA for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.  These offensive numbers would stand out in any circumstance, but they especially appeal to a Yankees team that has been surprisingly mediocre at the plate this season, with especially little coming from the first base position.  Luke Voit has missed much of the year due to injury, and New York first basemen have combined for a 76 wRC+, ranking 26th of 30 teams.

The door is certainly open for Gittens to earn some regular playing time if he can even approach his Triple-A production, as Voit isn’t expected back from his oblique strain until late June.  Gittens’ audition at first base will essentially push Rougned Odor out of New York’s lineup, as DJ LeMahieu will likely move from regular first-base duty to supplant the struggling Odor at second base.

AL East Notes: Zombro, Choi, Kluber, Blue Jays, Ward

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Rays pitching prospect Tyler Zombro was struck in the head by a line drive last night during the eighth inning of Triple-A Durham’s game against Norfolk.  Zombro was taken off the field on a stretcher and taken to hospital, as the game was suspended and then later officially halted.

The Rays released a statement on Zombro’s condition earlier today: “As of this morning, Tyler remains under the care of the nurses and doctors at Duke University Hospital. The updates from overnight have been positive, and he remains in stable condition. We are overwhelmed by the support for Tyler and the wishes for his full and speedy recovery from fans and the baseball community alike. We will provide additional updates as he progresses.”

We at MLBTR add our voices to the chorus of support for Zombro, and we’re hoping for all the best in his recovery.

More from around the AL East…

  • Ji-Man Choi has been battling left groin tightness and might require a trip to the injured list.  Choi missed Thursday’s game with the Yankees due to the issue, and Rays manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) that “I don’t think that he necessarily felt that great today” even after Choi received treatment throughout the game.  Arthroscopic knee surgery in March delayed Choi’s season debut until May 16, and he has been making up for lost time with a scorching .304/.448/.522 slash line in his first 58 plate appearances.  [UPDATE: the Rays have placed Choi on the 10-day IL with a left groin strain.]
  • Corey Kluber’s recovery from a rotator cuff strain is still projected to keep the righty out of action until around the last week of July, but Yankees manager Aaron Boone did provide some positive news in an update with reporters (including Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News).  After receiving second and third opinions from doctors, Kluber is expected to start throwing on flat ground within a few days’ time — his initial diagnosis would have kept him from throwing whatsoever for four weeks.
  • Pitching is the most obvious need for the Blue Jays at the trade deadline, yet Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith suggests that the Jays should also look to add bench help.  As much as the returns of George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, and Cavan Biggio will help matters, adding another bat would guard against any future injuries.  Specifically, a left-handed bat would also balance out a Toronto lineup that leans heavily to the right.
  • Red Sox pitching prospect Thad Ward recently underwent Tommy John surgery, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reports.  A fifth-round pick for the Sox in the 2018 draft, Ward posted some impressive numbers in his first two pro seasons before making his Double-A debut this season (posting a 5.63 ERA over eight innings).  Both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America ranked Ward as a top-ten prospect in Boston’s farm system, but the right-hander will now be on the shelf for the next 13-15 months, and his entire 2022 could be in jeopardy in the event of a rehab setback.

Corey Kluber To Miss At Least 8 Weeks; Luke Voit Suffers Oblique Strain

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4:30pm: It gets worse for the Yankees, as Boone has since said Kluber will miss at least eight weeks (via Jack Curry of YES Network). He’ll be shut down from throwing for four weeks and then will have to build up his arm strength for another four.

4:12pm: Yankees right-hander Corey Kluber has a sub-scapular strain in his rotator cuff and will miss at least four weeks, manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters. Meanwhile, first baseman Luke Voit has a Grade 2 oblique strain and will go on the 10-day injured list.

Kluber had to leave his start early on Tuesday as a result of this injury, which will at least put a temporary halt to what has been an outstanding season for the two-time American League Cy Young winner. After signing a one-year, $11MM contract with the Yankees in the offseason, Kluber has opened the year with 53 1/3 innings of 3.04 ERA ball, and he fired a no-hitter against Texas last week. It’s by far the best Kluber has looked since earlier in his career, which has been hampered by multiple injuries over the past few years. The former workhorse, 35, totaled just 35 2/3 innings in 2019, his last season with the Indians, because of a fractured forearm. And he was unable to bounce back last year as a member of the Rangers, with whom he threw one inning and was then shut down for good with a shoulder problem.

The loss of Kluber for at least two months (if not more) is obviously a significant blow to the Yankees’ rotation, which has been a strength during the team’s quality start. Ace Gerrit Cole, Domingo German and Jordan Montgomery have all pitched well, while Jameson Taillon’s peripherals are a lot more encouraging than his 5.06 ERA. The Yankees could also get back Luis Severino from Tommy John recovery sometime during the summer, but in the meantime, they’ll turn to Deivi Garcia to fill the last spot in their starting staff.

The loss of Voit is another troubling development for the Yankees, and it continues a difficult, injury-shortened campaign for him. After leading the majors with 22 home runs a season ago, he opened this year on the IL with a torn left meniscus that required surgery. Since he made his season debut in May, Voit has hit an uncharacteristically poor .182/.280/.250 with shockingly little power in 50 plate appearances. Voit has just one home run and a meager .068 ISO thus far. The Yankees seem likely to use Mike Ford and DJ LeMahieu at first base while Voit is absent.

In better news for the Yankees’ offense, slugger Giancarlo Stanton could come off the IL on Friday, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic was among those to report. Stanton, who has been out since May 14, slashed a superb .283/.347/.534 with nine homers in 144 PA before going down with a quad strain.

Corey Kluber To Undergo MRI On Shoulder

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9:21pm: Kluber offered some positive news after the game, telling Andy Martino of SNY and other reporters that he didn’t feel any pain during his outing. He added that this problem “doesn’t feel at all like what I dealt with last year.”

7:46pm: The Yankees announced that right-hander Corey Kluber left his start against the Blue Jays on Tuesday with tightness in his pitching shoulder. He’ll undergo an MRI on Wednesday.

Kluber, making his first start since throwing a no-hitter against the Rangers last Wednesday, went just three innings before departing. He allowed two runs on two hits and three walks (with five strikeouts), raising his season ERA to a still-excellent 3.04 over 53 1/3 innings. To this point, the two-time American League Cy Young winner has been a tremendous signing for the Yankees, who gave him a one-year, $11MM guarantee in free agency. They took that gamble after the former Indians ace missed nearly the entire 2019 season because of a fractured forearm and then totaled a mere one inning last year with the team he just no-hit, Texas. Kluber left his first start with the Rangers on account of shoulder tightness and then sat out the rest of the year with a Grade 2 tear of the teres major muscle.

The fact that the 35-year-old Kluber’s shoulder is acting up again is clearly a worrying sign for him and the Yankees, whose rotation has posted a sterling 3.31 ERA and helped them to a 28-19 record. Kluber, Domingo German and Jordan Montgomery have served as highly capable complements to all-world righty Gerrit Cole, and Jameson Taillon’s peripheral numbers suggest his 5.06 ERA will trend in a better direction. But the Yankees now have to wonder how much more they’ll get from Kluber this season as a result of this news.

MLBTR Poll: Forecasting The Yankees Rotation

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Jameson Taillon is aiming for 120 to 150 innings in his comeback from Tommy John surgery, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. Taillon has just 37 1/3 innings to his name over the past two seasons, and since this will be his second time coming back from TJ, there’s reason to temper expectations regarding his workload. Davidoff looks at PECOTA, Steamer, and ZiPS to get an idea for what the projection systems think Taillon can handle in 2021 – though the creators of the systems admit this is an area that requires guesswork. Still, it’s instructive to know that the three systems project 103 innings, 133 innings, and 106 1/3 innings – in line with Taillon’s thinking.

How those innings manifest might be the question for the Yankees. The mean of the three projections is 114-ish innings, which would be just under four innings per start over a full 30-game workload. That’s not likely to be the shape of Taillon’s 2021 production. We know that depth will be key in 2021 across the league, but thinking in this way about Taillon all but erases the possibility of a five-man rotation surviving the season.

While that’s an absolute best-case, rarely-achieved feat in the first place, it’s worth keeping in mind before getting frustrated when Deivi García, for example, doesn’t make an opening day roster, speculatively speaking. And while Clarke Schmidt’s injury doesn’t appear to be serious, it serves as a generous reminder that the injury bug can bite at any time.

As if Taillon didn’t cloud the Yankees’ projections enough on his own, the rest of the group doesn’t bring much certainty either – beyond Gerrit Cole, of course. The projection systems collectively tag presumptive No. 2 starter Corey Kluber with an expectation for about 137 innings in 2021, a forecast largely born from the fact that the soon-to-be 35-year-old managed just one inning in 2020 and 35 2/3 innings the year before. Still, Kluber was a workhorse before 2019, with five straight 200+ inning seasons with the Indians.

Jordan Montgomery slots into the No. 4 spot, and he logged just 51 2/3 innings over the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery himself. Somewhat remarkably, the starter with the most innings after Cole the past two seasons is the guy who missed all of 2020 under the league’s domestic violence policy: Domingo Germán. Germán made 24 starts and amassed 143 innings with a 4.03 ERA/4.72 FIP, 38.1 percent groundball rate, 25.8 percent strikeout rate, and 6.6 percent walk rate in 2019. Those are above-average walk and strikeout numbers. Germán faces his own uphill climb, of course. Given comments made by his Yankee teammates this offseason, there’s more than a little doubt about how well he’ll be able to re-acclimate to the spotlight that comes with donning Yankee pinstripes.

García will obviously be a candidate to join the rotation, as could other 40-man roster arms like Schmidt, Michael King, Nick Nelson, Alexander Vizcaino, Luis Medina, and Luis Gil. Veterans Jhoulys Chacin and Asher Wojciechowski are also in camp as non-roster invitees. Jonathan Loaisiga, Albert Abreu and Luis Cessa are expected to pitch out the bullpen, but they’ve spent time starting games in the past. The Yankees also hope to receive a mid-season boost when Luis Severino returns from Tommy John. Severino threw just 12 innings the past two seasons, but he was an ace in the two years before that, averaging a 3.18 ERA/3.01 FIP, 5.5 fWAR in 192 innings per season in 2017 and 2018.

Of course, no matter the starting five, most teams are going to call upon more than just their opening day rotation to toe the rubber. The Yankees themselves used nine different starting pitchers in 2020 over just 60 games. They used 12 in 2019, 12 in 2018, and 11 in 2017. Those units finished eighth, fifth and fourth in the American League by measure of FIP, ninth, third and third by fWAR. Yankee starters ranked third in the AL by both FIP (4.19 FIP) and fWAR (5.3 fWAR) last season.

Volume isn’t everything, but for pitchers, inning totals do often point to success, or at the very least, health. Given the uncertainty of the Yankees new rotation, what are your expectations? Who of the starters after Cole stands the best chance of surviving the season?

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