Carlos Rodon

Yankees Reinstate Carlos Rodon, Transfer Nestor Cortes To 60-Day Injured List

By Anthony Franco and Darragh McDonald | July 7, 2023 at 5:11pm CDT

The Yankees made a series of roster moves today, reinstating left-hander Carlos Rodón from the 60-day injured list and recalling outfielder Franchy Cordero. To clear two active roster spots, righty Deivi García was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and outfielder Jake Bauers was placed on the 10-day injured list. Bauers’ placement is retroactive to July 6 and due to a left rotator cuff contusion. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Rodón, lefty Nestor Cortes was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Rodón will take the mound tonight against the Cubs. It’s his long-awaited Yankee debut. The two-time All-Star signed a six-year, $162MM free agent contract over the winter. He was expected to pair with Gerrit Cole as co-aces atop the starting staff. That’s taken longer than anticipated, as Rodón battled a forearm strain in Spring Training and dealt with back discomfort over the past couple months.

The star southpaw has made three minor league rehab starts, tossing 10 2/3 frames of one-run ball. He threw 58 pitches in his final rehab outing last Saturday. The Yankees will surely be cautious with his workload tonight and coming out of the All-Star Break, but they’ll get their first glimpse of he and Cole as a one-two punch.

Cortes was expected to be a key part of the rotation himself. The southpaw has struggled to a 5.16 ERA over 11 appearances after consecutive sub-3.00 seasons in 2021-22. Cortes then landed on the injured list, retroactive to June 5, after straining his left rotator cuff.

The 60-day minimum backdates to his original IL placement. Cortes is now officially out into the first week of August. It appears he could be back around when first eligible. Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News noted earlier this week (on Twitter) that Cortes got through a 25-pitch bullpen session without issue and is expected to throw live batting practice on Sunday.

As for Bauers, he’ll be out at least through next weekend. The left-handed hitter has filled in reasonably well since being called upon in late April. Over 154 plate appearances, he’s hitting .224/.312/.470 with seven home runs.

AL East Notes: Rodon, Westburg, Hays, Whitlock, Paredes

By Mark Polishuk | July 2, 2023 at 6:20pm CDT

Carlos Rodon threw 58 pitches in a high-A rehab start on Saturday, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch) that Rodon emerged from the outing in good health and in good form. It was Rodon’s third rehab start, and the Yankees’ plan is for the left-hander to make his 2023 debut on Friday against the Cubs. It’s better late than never for Rodon, who had both a forearm strain in March and then some back tightness that put his rehab work on pause. A cortisone injection in early May provided some relief to Rodon’s back, and it has since been relatively smooth sailing as he has slowly built up his arm strength.

Rodon joined the Bronx Bombers on a six-year, $162MM free agent contract this winter. The early injury scare certainly created some immediate second-guessing about the Yankees’ investment, yet if Rodon displays any of his form from the last two seasons, his 60-day IL stint might just be a bump in the road, though Rodon’s lengthy career injury history will always linger. Rodon was a top-six Cy Young Award finisher in each of the last two seasons with the White Sox and Giants, posting a 2.67 ERA, 33.9% strikeout rate, and 7.1% walk rate over 310 2/3 innings in 2021-22. While a lack of offense has been the Yankees’ chief problem this year, adding an in-form Rodon alongside ace Gerrit Cole atop New York’s rotation will certainly help in the run prevention department, and potentially allow the Bombers to keep grinding out wins until Aaron Judge can return to boost the lineup.

Carlos Rodón To Begin Rehab Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | June 20, 2023 at 4:52pm CDT

The Yankees announced that left-hander Carlos Rodón has been sent to Double-A Somerset to begin a rehab assignment. Additionally, outfielder Harrison Bader was activated from the injured list, taking the spot of infielder/outfielder Oswaldo Cabrera, who was optioned following Sunday night’s game.

Rodón, 30, became a Yankee this winter by signing a six-year, $162MM contract but has yet to make his regular season debut in pinstripes. He was diagnosed with a forearm strain in March and began the season on the injured list. He initially seemed set for a brief absence, as he started working his way back in April. However, he was then waylaid by some back tightness that was eventually diagnosed by doctors as being a “chronic” issue.

In early May, the lefty received a cortisone injection and has been ramping up his activities since then. He started throwing shortly after that, eventually progressing to mound work and facing live hitters. Now he’s set for the final hurdle, pitching in minor league games. Rehab assignments for pitchers can last up to 30 days, so it might still be a few weeks before he rejoins the Yankees. But it’s nonetheless a good sign that their big offseason pitching acquisition is getting closer.

Health has been a key factor in Rodón’s career. He was drafted by the White Sox with the third overall pick in 2014 and quickly became one of the top prospects in the sport. He performed well in 2015 and 2016 but then injuries started holding him back. Biceps bursitis and arthroscopic shoulder surgery made him miss big parts of his 2017 and 2018 seasons before Tommy John surgery wiped out most of his 2019 and 2020 campaigns.

The trajectory got much better in the years after that, as he came back in 2021 with 24 starts and a 2.37 ERA. He was eventually shut down with some shoulder fatigue in August, but it was nonetheless encouraging after so many frustrating setbacks. He became a free agent and there was still some hesitation from the open market, forcing him to settle for a two-year, $44MM deal with the Giants, though one that would allow him to opt out as long as he pitched 110 innings. He took another step forward by making 31 starts last year with a 2.88 ERA, 33.4% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate and 34.1% ground ball rate.

Based on that strong platform, it was an easy decision for him to opt out and cash in. Since he seemed to be moving away from his injury-prone label, the Yankees took a shot on him but his health hasn’t cooperated thus far. He’s now walking a familiar road, working his way back to the mound after a significant absence.

His return would certainly be a welcome development for the Yankees, who have also been without Frankie Montas all year while Nestor Cortes posted a 5.16 ERA before landing on the injured list himself. Luis Severino is back with the team after his own IL stint but he has a 6.30 ERA through his first six starts. Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt and Domingo Germán have avoided the IL thus far, though Germán missed a couple of turns due to a sticky stuff suspension. Amid all of those challenges, the club has had to turn to depth options like Randy Vásquez and Jhony Brito on occasion.

Despite all of that shuffling, the club has managed to tread water, currently sporting a record of 39-33 that’s good enough for the final Wild Card spot in the American League. But with three teams within a game and a half and a few more clubs lurking just behind those, the importance of each game is going to be magnified going forward, making the return of a difference-maker like Rodón a potentially significant boost for the Yankees.

Latest On Aaron Judge

By Mark Polishuk | June 17, 2023 at 10:04am CDT

Aaron Judge hasn’t played since June 3, when the Yankees superstar made a highlight-reel catch that sent him crashing through Dodger Stadium’s right field bullpen door. Judge sprained his right big toe while colliding with the concrete base under the bullpen door, and after two weeks on the sidelines, it remains unclear when Judge might return from the 10-day injured list.

After Judge received a PRP injection on June 6, the outfielder got another shot focused on a different ligament on Thursday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch). “Any time you strain or tear the ligaments, it takes time to heal that, honestly. PRPs hopefully speed that process up,” Boone said. “Hopefully he’s continuing to move in the right direction. We feel like he was, but that other part of the joint or of the toe…was still giving him problems after the first PRP. To get in and hit the other parts of it, hopefully is something that speeds [the process].”

Range-of-motion exercises are the next step on Judge’s rehab plan, and further steps towards baseball activities remain fluid, as the Yankees are naturally being cautious. Owner Hal Steinbrenner said earlier this week that Judge’s sprain was “like a turf toe,” and “a rare injury for a baseball player…I think it’s common in football probably with running backs.”

Kuty spoke with Dr. Spencer Stein of NYU Langone Health about Judge’s injury, and while Stein hasn’t personally examined the outfielder, the orthopedic surgeon said that a second PRP injection isn’t particular unusual for such an injury. Stein suggested that Judge could be back by mid-July, though Boone provided a broader range of potential return dates.

First saying “there’s a shot” that Judge could return before the All-Star break, Boone added that “he could be back in a week. He could be back in four. I don’t know. We’ve got to get to a point where we’re starting to move the ball from a physical activity or baseball standpoint.”

It’s no secret that Judge is the cornerstone of the Yankees roster, and the last two weeks have only underscored his importance to the lineup. From June 4 to June 16, Yankee batters have hit a collective .205/.264/.361, with a 71 wRC+ that ranks as the third-worst in baseball during that span.

Some reinforcements may be on the way in the form of Harrison Bader, though Bader opted to extend his minor league rehab stint probably through the weekend. As Boone told the New York Daily News’ Gary Phillips and other reporters, Bader wanted more than just one rehab game to ensure that his right hamstring strain was fully healed. Bader was placed on the IL on May 29, and between this absence and a left oblique strain that cost him over the first month of the season, the outfielder has played in only 26 games this season (hitting .267/.295/.511 with six home runs in 95 plate appearances).

On the pitching side, Carlos Rodon is slated to begin his minor league rehab assignment on Tuesday. Between a forearm strain and then a back problem, Rodon has yet to make his Yankee debut since joining the club on a six-year, $162MM free agent deal in December. Early July is Rodon’s target date, as Boone said the plan is for Rodon to make three rehab outings with steadily increasing pitch counts.

Nestor Cortes Likely To Be Placed On IL With Shoulder Issue

By Darragh McDonald | June 4, 2023 at 9:30pm CDT

9:30pm: Judge tells Hoch that he expects to undergo X-rays and/or an MRI when the club gets back to New York.

5:58pm: Yankees left-hander Nestor Cortes has a shoulder issue and is likely headed for the 15-day injured list, with Bryan Hoch of MLB.com among those to relay word from manager Aaron Boone (Twitter links). Boone hopes that Cortes will only miss one or two starts but the southpaw is undergoing an MRI to determine the exact nature and severity of the issue.

It’s not clear exactly when the issue arose, though Boone says Cortes has been having issues recovering in between his starts. If the club does indeed have to proceed without Cortes, that would obviously not be ideal, but it would perhaps at least lead to an explanation for his diminished results on the season.

The lefty bounced around to various clubs in the early parts of his career before breaking out with the Yankees in the last two years. He tossed 251 1/3 innings over 2021 and 2022, posting a combined 2.61 ERA in that time. He struck out 26.9% of opponents while walking 6.4%. Through 11 starts this year, his ERA is way up to 5.16 while his strikeout rate has dropped to 23.4% and his walks are up to 7.5%.

Despite that tepid performance, the Yanks surely don’t need yet another pitching injury to deal with. Frankie Montas and Carlos Rodón have yet to appear so far this season due to their own injuries and the club has also has to navigate absences from Domingo Germán and Luis Severino. Those latter two are now back in action, slotted alongside Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt in the current rotation.

If Cortes does indeed miss a small amount of time, the club would likely need a spot start from one of Randy Vásquez or Jhony Brito. Both of them are on the 40-man roster and have been up in the majors at times this year. The Yanks have a handful of off-days this month that would limit the need for their services, though that need would obviously grow if the shoulder issue with Cortes proves to be more significant than hoped.

Rotation help could be coming further down the line as Rodón continues his march towards his Yankee debut. He suffered a forearm strain during Spring Training and then was slowed by a back issue that doctors have told him is chronic. Nonetheless, he’s been ramping up his activities in recent weeks and will face live hitters on Wednesday, per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. His return to the majors leagues isn’t imminent as he will still need to build up to a full starter’s workload, but it’s encouraging that he’s jumping through the usual hoops without issue at the moment.

Elsewhere on the roster, Aaron Judge is out of tonight’s lineup with a minor issue. He made a spectacular catch last night, crashing into the wall at Dodger Stadium and busting open the bullpen gate, Twitter video per Hoch. Boone says Judge banged his toe and is sore and receiving treatment, per Hoch. There are no plans to place him on the injured list right now but it will depend how things progress. “I don’t know,” Boone tells Hoch in response to the IL question. “Not at this point. We’ll see how he is today, tomorrow and the next day.”

That will obviously be an important situation to monitor as Judge is having yet another excellent season. The reigning American League MVP has 19 home runs on the year already and is slashing .291/.404/.674 for a wRC+ of 188. With fellow outfielders Harrison Bader and Greg Allen already on the injured list, it would be a significant blow if Judge were to join them. With Judge out of the lineup tonight, the Yanks have Willie Calhoun, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jake Bauers in the outfield with Giancarlo Stanton in the designated hitter slot. Franchy Cordero is on the 40-man roster and could be recalled if Judge does eventually require an IL stint.

Yankees Activate Stanton, Donaldson, Kahnle; Rodon Transferred To 60-Day IL

By Anthony Franco | June 1, 2023 at 1:32pm CDT

1:32pm: The Yankees have now formally announced the full slate of moves. Stanton, Donaldson and Kahnle have all been reinstated from the injured list, while Cabrera, Cordero and Krook have been optioned. They indeed transferred Rodon to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Kahnle. Again, that’s a formality and doesn’t impact Rodon’s eligibility to return. He’s already missed more than 60 days, and the “60-day” term of his IL stint is retroactive to his initial placement on the injured list.

10:57am: The Yankees announced this morning they’ve optioned outfielders Oswaldo Cabrera and Franchy Cordero and reliever Matt Krook to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. (Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported Cabrera’s forthcoming demotion last night.) As Chris Kirschner and Brendan Kuty of the Athletic write, that clears the way for New York to formally reinstate Giancarlo Stanton, Josh Donaldson and Tommy Kahnle from the injured list before tomorrow’s series opener against the Dodgers.

Kahnle is coming back from the 60-day IL and will require a 40-man roster spot, though that can be opened by transferring Carlos Rodón to the 60-day IL. Rodón has already missed more than two months, so that transfer would be a strictly procedural move that doesn’t affect his return eligibility.

Cabrera is the most notable of the players being sent out. He was New York’s Opening Day left fielder and has started 41 of 58 games overall. The majority of his time has been spent in the corner outfield, though he’s also logged some action at each of the non-first base infield spots.

While Cabrera has shown plenty of defensive flexibility, he’s not offered much at the plate. He owns just a .195/.246/.292 line with a trio of home runs over 168 trips. Cabrera logged a similar amount of playing time last season but had a more formidable .247/.312/.429 showing as a rookie. In light of his sophomore slump, the Yankees will send him back for a reset against upper minors pitching.

Paired with Aaron Hicks’ recent release, Cabrera’s demotion leaves left field to some combination of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Jake Bauers and Willie Calhoun. Stanton may eventually log some corner outfield reps as well, but manager Aaron Boone said yesterday he’ll break back in as a strict designated hitter for the first few weeks (via Kirschner). The club wants to be cautious about his responsibilities after a near six week absence due to a strained left hamstring.

Stanton had connected on four home runs in 13 games over the season’s first couple weeks. He returns to build on a .269/.296/.558 slash line. The former NL MVP has topped 30 homers in each of the last two seasons.

He’s not the only veteran right-handed bat returning to Boone’s lineup. Donaldson has been out for nearly the entire season thanks to a balky right hamstring. He’s gotten into just five games, a disappointing start to what he’d hoped what be a bounceback second season in the Bronx. Donaldson hit only .222/.308/.374 last year but Boone has already indicated he’ll be back in the lineup on an everyday basis once healthy. That should push DJ LeMahieu back into a multi-positional role after he’s been mostly at the hot corner of late.

Kahnle will be making his first appearance during his second MLB stint as a Yankee. The veteran righty returned to the Bronx on a two-year, $11.5MM free agent deal. He’d thrown just 12 2/3 innings for the Dodgers last season but showed mid-90s velocity and excellent ground-ball numbers in that brief look. Kahnle had been delayed by biceps soreness earlier in the season but has returned to throw five innings over as many outings on a minor league rehab appearance.

Yankees Notes: Bader, Trevino, Stanton

By Darragh McDonald | May 30, 2023 at 2:17pm CDT

Yankees outfielder Harrison Bader departed yesterday’s game with right hamstring tightness and it seems he’s unlikely to make a quick return. Manager Aaron Boone tells Talkin’ Yanks that Bader will miss at least a few games and could even require a trip to the injured list.

The club can take a couple of days to decide since IL stints can be backdated by three days, provided that the player hasn’t participated in those intervening games. The Yanks can give Bader some time to see how his hamstring feels and then place him on the IL if it doesn’t improve. Of course, taking that path means playing shorthanded for a few days, but it could possibly allow them to avoid putting Bader on the shelf if his health improves.

Injuries have become a frequent thread in Bader’s career, as he’s spent some time on the IL in each full season from 2019 to the present. He played 103 games in 2021 and 86 last year, then started the 2023 season on the injured list due to an oblique strain. He eventually returned and has been playing very well of late, hitting .267/.295/.511 through 26 games while stealing six bases and providing quality glovework. However, he’s now at risk of having that production put on hold yet again, depending on how things develop in the coming days. Whether he goes on the IL or not, the club will have to fill center field in his absence, with playing time potentially going to Aaron Judge, Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Greg Allen.

Elsewhere on the roster, catcher Jose Trevino seems ready for a fairly quick return. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com relays word from Boone that the backstop could be activated during the club’s current series against the Mariners, which runs through Wednesday. He landed on the 10-day injured list May 18 with a hamstring strain, so it looks like his stint could wind up being just over the minimum.

The glove-first catcher led the league in Defensive Runs Saved last year with 21 and also had the best framing marks in the majors according to FanGraphs. He wasn’t quite at the same pace this year but was still above-average before straining his hamstring. Once he’s able to return, it could mean that Ben Rortvedt gets optioned back to the minors. He has done a good job filling in for Trevino, hitting .286/.444/.429 but in a small sample of nine plate appearances.

Lefty Carlos Rodón is also on track to return to the team, though his return won’t be as imminent as Trevino. He threw a 20-pitch bullpen session at high intensity, per Hoch, and will soon throw another bullpen before moving on to live hitters. Signed to a six-year, $162MM deal this offseason, the southpaw has yet to make his Yankee debut after suffering a forearm strain in the spring and then dealing with back problems.

With both Rodón and Frankie Montas having been absent all season so far, it’s opened some rotation work for other hurlers like Domingo Germán, Clarke Schmidt, Jhony Brito and Randy Vásquez. Germán also had to miss some time due to his 10-game sticky stuff suspension, though he has now served that and returned yesterday. That shuffling of arms has left the club’s rotation ERA at 4.38 for the year, placing them 15th out of the 30 clubs in the league. Rodón has a 2.67 ERA dating back to the start of the 2021 season and will undoubtedly provide the club with a boost once healthy, but he still has a long road ahead of him in building back up to a full starter’s workload, since he’s effectively just starting his delayed spring ramp-up now.

There are some other reinforcements that appear to be closer at hand, as the Double-A Somerset Patriots announced (Twitter links) that third baseman Josh Donaldson, outfielder/designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton and right-hander Tommy Kahnle are all joining that club for rehab work tonight. Donaldson and Kahnle were already rehabbing with other affiliates but this will be Stanton’s first game action in a while. He was out to a strong .269/.296/.558 start before suffering a hamstring strain about six weeks ago. He’s always been an excellent hitter but health has been a frequent concern lately, as he’s been on the IL in each season since 2018.

Yankees Notes: Donaldson, Rodon

By Steve Adams | May 24, 2023 at 11:38am CDT

The Yankees have only gotten five games out of Josh Donaldson this season, as he’s been hobbled by a hamstring strain for the remainder of the current campaign. Manager Aaron Boone said yesterday, however, that a minor league rehab stint for Donaldson is “imminent,” which would signal a return to the lineup in the near future (Twitter links via The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner). Whenever Donaldson is cleared to return, Boone added that expects the 37-year-old to be an everyday player.

Many Yankee fans will surely bristle at that notion. The former American League MVP has largely underwhelmed since coming to the Bronx alongside Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt in a trade that sent Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez to the Twins. Donaldson hit just .222/.308/.374 in 546 plate appearances last season, though he continued to rate well on the defensive side of the game, drawing +7 marks from both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. In the five games Donaldson has played so far in 2023, he went 2-for-16 with a double, a walk and six strikeouts.

In Donaldson’s absence, DJ LeMahieu has drawn the bulk of the starts at third base. The 34-year-old LeMahieu is still a ways off his peak performance with the Yankees in 2019-20, but his .250/.320/.406 slash in 178 plate appearances this year is solid nonetheless. Of course, LeMahieu is plenty capable of playing first base and second base as well, and he also hits enough to factor in at designated hitter on days he’s not in the field. Even with Donaldson playing regularly at third base, Boone could still work LeMahieu into the lineup on a near-regular basis by rotating him through those four spots in the lineup.

While many Yankee fans have been ready to move on from Donaldson for the better part of a year, it’s understandable if the Yanks at least want to take a look at how he fares in his return from the injured list. He’s owed a $21MM salary this season and the $8MM buyout on next year’s $16MM option regardless, and as previously noted, last year’s defensive showing was strong. Donaldson also put the ball in play at an average of 90.7 mph last year and saw 43% of his batted balls leave the bat at 95-plus miles per hour.

At the same time, it’s fair to question just how long a leash Donaldson will be granted if he struggles out of the gate. The Yankees have won eight of their past ten games to boost their record to 30-20, but they’re still five games behind the division-leading Rays. They gave fellow veteran Aaron Hicks about a quarter of the season before designating him for assignment, though Hicks only tallied 76 plate appearances and appeared in 28 games during that time. Still, Hicks was signed through the 2025 season — albeit at a lower annual rate — whereas Donaldson is inked only through season’s end. The total financial commitment to both players is comparable.

Turning to another high-priced, injured veteran — Boone added that the organization’s hope is for Carlos Rodon to be able to throw off a mound at some point this week (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Rodon hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Yankees since signing his six-year deal over the winter, owing largely to a forearm strain but also to some back discomfort that popped up while he was rehabbing that initial injury.

Even if the 30-year-old Rodon is able to throw off a mound without issue, a return would still be a ways down the road. The lefty would likely need multiple bullpen sessions before then facing live hitters in a simulated setting and eventually making multiple minor league rehab appearances. It’s hard to envision him completing that cycle in anything less than a month.

Yankees Plan To Activate Luis Severino On Sunday

By Steve Adams | May 18, 2023 at 11:57am CDT

The Yankees are planning to activate right-hander Luis Severino from the injured list on Sunday, manager Aaron Boone said last night (Twitter link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). He’ll make his season debut against the Reds after spending the first quarter of the year on the shelf with a lat strain. The news on injured reliever Ian Hamilton is a bit more ominous, as Boone revealed that the right-hander is back in New York to undergo an MRI after being placed on the 15-day IL due to a groin strain.

Severino, 29, will provide a sizable boost to a Yankees rotation that has also been without Carlos Rodon all season and recently lost Domingo German to a 10-game suspension after he was ejected from his most recent start on the heels of a foreign substance check from the umpiring crew. The Yankees have turned to former top prospect Clarke Schmidt and right-hander Jhony Brito in the rotation for much of the season, but neither has pitched well.

Despite the sub-par showings from Brito (5.20 ERA) and Schmidt (6.30), Yankees starters still rank 14th in the Majors with a collective 4.30 ERA. Gerrit Cole’s sensational start to the year skews that number, however. He and German are the only Yankees starters with an ERA under 5.00 at the moment, making Severino’s return of particular importance.

Severino, of course, has proven capable of pitching at an ace-caliber level when healthy. Dating back to the 2017 season, he boasts a 3.10 ERA with a 28.8% strikeout rate and 6.6% walk rate. The “when healthy” caveat carries plenty of weight with regard to Severino, however, as that impressive ERA and K-BB% profile has come in a sample of just 504 2/3 innings — including just 120 frames since the conclusion of the 2018 season. Severino pitched just 12 innings in 2019 due to shoulder and lat injuries, and he underwent Tommy John surgery in February of 2020. His 2021 comeback efforts were largely derailed by a Grade 2 groin strain and some recurring tightness in his shoulder. He pitched just six innings that year.

The 2022 season was Severino’s healthiest since he topped 190 innings in both the 2017-18 seasons, but he still managed only 19 starts and 102 innings of work due to a strain of the same right latissimus dorsi that has plagued him in 2023. The Yankees’ obvious hope is that the issue can be firmly put in the rearview mirror now, but only time will tell. Severino has made a pair of minor league rehab starts, lasting 3 1/3 innings apiece and holding opponents to three runs on eight hits and a pair of walks with six punchouts.

A healthy return will be of great importance not just from a team perspective but also through a personal lens. The Yankees exercised a $15MM option on Severino back in November, and he’s slated to become a free agent for the first time this coming offseason. The hope of pitching a full slate of 30-plus starts is already out the window, but if Severino can avoid the injured list from this point forth, he’ll still be viewed as one of the top arms in the class — obvious health risks notwithstanding.

For the time being, Severino will slot into the rotation along with Cole, Schmidt, Brito and a struggling Nestor Cortes (5.53 ERA in 42 1/3 innings). The team hasn’t gone on record to provide a firm timetable on Rodon, though Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported earlier in the week that a six-week timetable is viewed as a best-case scenario. That seems to generally align with the Yankees’ latest updates on the lefty, as Boone noted to Hoch and others that he’s recently thrown from 90 feet without incident. Rodon will still likely need multiple bullpen sessions, some live batting practice sessions and multiple minor league rehab starts before he’s a realistic option, so a return late next month indeed seems plausible if he can avoid further setbacks.

AL Notes: Altuve, Rodon, Twins

By Nick Deeds | May 12, 2023 at 10:24am CDT

Astros second baseman and franchise face Jose Altuve is set to begin a rehab assignment this evening with the club’s Triple-A affiliate in Sugar Land. Altuve has been on the injured list all season after undergoing surgery on his right thumb after suffering an injury during the World Baseball Classic this spring. Though Altuve was initially expected to miss at least the first two months of the season, his rehab process gone quite well, allowing him to begin a rehab assignment somewhat ahead of schedule.

That’s great news for the Astros, who have scuffled to a 19-18 record in the early going this season, behind both the Rangers and Angels in the AL West. While Mauricio Dubon has filled in adequately at second base during Altuve’s absence, his .287/.306/.357 slash line in 134 plate appearances this season pales in comparison to the .300/.387/.533 line Altuve put up last season en route to the third top-5 finish in AL MVP award voting of his career. Houston is certainly hoping their 33-year-old superstar can jog a lineup whose .672 OPS as a team ranks bottom three in the majors.

More from around the American League…

Carlos Rodon has yet to throw a regular season pitch for the Yankees this season after signing a six-year, $162MM deal with the club this past offseason, but Jon Heyman of the New York Post provides some clarity on the lefty’s timetable for return. Heyman notes that with Rodon resuming throwing today after the cortisone injection he received earlier in the week, the 30-year-old figures to be six weeks away from his Yankees debut, should everything go according to plan. The sooner Rodon is able to return to the Yankees, the better, as the club has fallen to fifth place in the AL East with a 21-18 record to open the season. Rodon, who has posted a 2.67 ERA in 310 2/3 innings since the beginning of the 2021 season, would surely bolster a Yankees club that has been forced to rely on Clarke Schmidt, Jhony Brito, and Domingo German to fill out the club’s rotation behind Gerrit Cole and Nestor Cortes.
Twins reliever Ronny Henriquez has been reinstated from the 15-day IL and optioned to Triple-A, per the club’s communication director Dustin Morse. Henriquez, 23 next month, pitched to a 2.31 ERA in 11 2/3 innings of work with the Twins as a rookie last season, striking out just 18% of batters faced, though he generated an impressive 52.8% groundball rate. That being said, Henriquez struggled during his rehab assignment this season, with a 4.76 ERA in 5 2/3 innings during that time. Henriquez will look to get right in the minors on a more permanent basis going forward while acting as bullpen depth for the Twins alongside Josh Winder.

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