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CC Sabathia Not On Yankees’ ALDS Roster

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The Yankees have yet to formally announce their full roster for their upcoming Division Series matchup with the Twins, but manager Aaron Boone announced today that veteran left-hander CC Sabathia will not be a part of the mix (Twitter links via Meredith Marakovits and Jack Curry of the YES Network).

Sabathia has been dealing with a shoulder issue and underwent a cortisone injection, but he hasn’t bounced back to the point where the team considers him an option to this pont. He could potentially factor into the ALCS roster if the Yankees advance beyond the ALDS. With Sabathia off the roster, the Yankees will go to a rotation featuring James Paxton in Game 1, Masahiro Tanaka in Game 2 and Luis Severino in Game 3. They’ll rely on that trio and an exceptionally deep bullpen, which Boone says he’ll be “aggressive” in deploying.

A full roster won’t be released until the Yankees need to formally release it (tomorrow morning), though Boone also indicated that Edwin Encarnacion is “expected” to be on the roster. The slugger hasn’t appeared in a game since Sept. 12 thanks to an oblique injury, but he’s apparently made sufficient progress that he’ll be an option in the best-of-five series that’ll kick off at Yankee Stadium tomorrow evening.

Depending on how the postseason plays out, then, it’s possible that Sabathia’s scoreless outing of relief against the Rays on Sept. 24 — the lone relief appearance of his illustrious 19-year career — could mark the final time he ever sets foot on a Major League mound. Even if the Yankees do advance to the ALCS, there’s no guarantee that Sabathia would be a part of the team’s pitching staff for that best-of-seven series. And, obviously, if the Yankees’ season comes to an end within the next week, Sabathia will head into retirement and take his first official steps toward Cooperstown a bit sooner than he or the organization had hoped.

Yankees Activate Luis Severino, Designate Breyvic Valera

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The Yankees announced Tuesday that they’ve reinstated Luis Severino from the 60-day injured list. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, New York has designated infielder Breyvic Valera for assignment.

Severino’s return to the rotation tonight will be a boon for a Yankees club that has seen its starters struggle immensely in the season’s second half. If Severino is able to quickly round back into form, he’ll surely play a prominent role in the team’s postseason pitching plans. The 25-year-old righty, who signed a four-year, $40MM contract extension in the offseason, has yet to pitch this season due to shoulder and lat injuries but gave the Yankees 384 2/3 innings of 3.18 ERA ball (3.01 FIP) with 10.5 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9 from 2017-18.

The 27-year-old Valera, claimed off waivers from the Giants earlier this season, appeared in a dozen games for the Yankees and hit .219/.324/.313 in 37 plate appearances. He’s appeared with four different big league teams in the past three seasons, having also spent time with the Orioles, Dodgers and Cardinals. (Valera never played in the Majors with the Giants.) Los Angeles sent him to Baltimore in last summer’s Manny Machado swap, though it was clear at the time of the deal that he wasn’t as well regarded as the younger players sent to the O’s in that trade.

In parts of four Triple-A seasons, Valera has a .302/.374/.442 batting line. He’s spent the bulk of his career in the minors at second base but also has 1434 innings at shortstop, 823 innings at third base, 932 innings in left field, 303 innings in right field and 68 innings in center under his belt. Valera will be out of minor league options next season, so any club that claims him would either have to include him on 2020’s Opening Day roster or attempt to pass him through waivers themselves.

Edwin Encarnacion Expects To Return Before End Of Regular Season

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Alarm bells were raised when Yankees slugger Edwin Encarnacion turned up with an oblique strain recently, as a significant version of that injury could easily spell a lengthy absence. But the progress has been so promising that the veteran says he believes he’ll return to the field of play in the next two weeks, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch covers on Twitter.

Encarnacion, 36, says that he’s “feeling better every day.” So long as he continues to ramp up, he ought to have a chance to pick up some plate appearances before the club wraps up play on the 29th. It doesn’t matter much to the Yanks whether they have Encarnacion’s bat in the lineup down the stretch, but the club will certainly hope to have him at full speed in the postseason.

The Yanks still have quite a few interesting potential roster questions to resolve before playoff action gets underway. Giancarlo Stanton joins Encarnacion as a rehabbing righty power bat, with a bevy of other possibilities for roster spots. And the team has a variety of hurlers — Luis Severino, Dellin Betances, Jordan Montgomery — trying to show they’re ready to roll, with other pitchers waiting in the wings.

One of those other key players, Betances, just had his first outing. As Hoch tweets, the power righty was not only happy with the outing — he struck out the two batters he faced — but how he feels the day after. Montgomery’s own season debut wasn’t quite so promising, as he gave up three earned in two innings. Both pitchers worked well below their previously established levels of fastball velocity. Severino will take the ball in the majors tomorrow for the first time this year.

Severino, Stanton Expected To Join Yankees Next Week

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10:40am: Not only are Severino and Stanton on the verge of a return, it seems that left-hander Jordan Montgomery and righty Dellin Betances could be back in the same general timeframe. Montgomery could start things off in a bullpen game for the Yankees in Toronto on Sunday (Twitter link via Newsday’s Erik Boland), while Hoch tweets that Betances will pitch once more for Trenton tomorrow and could be added to the Major League roster after that outing.

10:22am: After missing nearly the entire season due to shoulder and lat injuries, Yankees ace Luis Severino is expected to return from the injured list and start Tuesday’s game against the Angels at Yankee Stadium, manager Aaron Boone revealed to reporters this morning (Twitter links via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). That on its own is good news, but Boone added that Giancarlo Stanton could rejoin the roster at the start of that homestand as well, meaning he could be in the lineup Tuesday as well.

A healthy Severino would be a welcome reprieve for a beleaguered Yankees rotation that has stumbled throughout the second half of the season. Since the All-Star break, Yankees starters have posted a collective 5.25 ERA and averaged fewer than five innings per outing. Those shortcomings have done nothing to endanger New York’s overwhelming lead in the American League East, but such difficulties among their starting staff are no doubt a concern with the postseason looming. Adding a healthy Severino into the fray could be a substantial boost not only for the final two weeks of the regular season but also to the team’s outlook in the American League Division Series.

The Yankees have been relying primarily on the quintet of Masahiro Tanaka, James Paxton, Domingo German, J.A. Happ and CC Sabathia to make their starts, but Paxton (3.90) and German (4.90) are the only members of the bunch with a sub-5.00 ERA since the All-Star break. Happ has rattled off a string of solid starts and could be rounding into form late in the year, but the Yankees’ rotation has generally been a weak point. A strong bullpen and overwhelming offensive attack have paved their road to success.

As for Stanton, it’s clear that scoring runs hasn’t been an issue for the Yankees this season. Staying healthy, however, has. Stanton is a major part of that, but he could rejoin the lineup at an opportune time. The Yankees just lost out-of-the-blue breakout outfielder Mike Tauchman for the rest of the season, and Aaron Hicks could be down for the rest of the year as well. Luke Voit, meanwhile, hasn’t hit much since returning from the injured list.

Stanton has only managed to appear in nine games for the Yankees this year, first going down with a biceps strain that sidelined him for two months and then spraining his knee in just his sixth game back from that first injury. His injury-shortened campaign has caused some Yankees fans to sour on him, but Stanton was plenty dangerous in his Yankees debut in 2018, hitting .266/.343/.509 with 38 big flies and 34 doubles in 158 games (705 plate appearances). Adding him back into the late-season and playoff picture would be bad news for whichever postseason opponent lines up against the Yanks.

Severino, Betances Closing In On Returns

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Luis Severino and Dellin Betances each pitched on rehab Friday night with the Yankees’ Double-A affiliate in Trenton. According to manager Aaron Boone, Severino is the further along of the two hurlers. In fact, Boone tells Dan Martin of the New York Post, Severino’s next appearance might be on a major-league mound.

“Overall, it was pretty successful,” Boone told Martin of Severino’s rehab outing. “We’ll talk about whether one more is beneficial or [if he will] come with us.” The Yankees, tied with the Astros for the AL’s best record, are amidst a ten-game road trip.

Interestingly, it’s possible Severino returns as more or less a traditional starting pitcher. While we’ve seen a few teams bring back injured arms to work short stints in September, typically as openers, the Yankees seem determined to build their injured ace back up. “I think there’s a chance with where the calendar is, he could get built up pretty high,” Boone said of Severino, although he quickly cautioned that “we could always throttle him back and I could see him in a variety of roles for us.”

For his part, Severino, who has missed the entire season with lat and shoulder trouble, seems optimistic about his chances of building up the requisite arm strength to work deep into games by the time the postseason comes around. He only threw 50 pitches Friday for Trenton but told local reporters he believed he could ramp up to 90-100 pitches in a start by season’s end, Martin adds. While the Yankees have marvelously weathered myriad injuries this season, the starting rotation has proven to be something of a weak spot. Yankees’ starters rank 14th leaguewide in park-adjusted ERA, while the other top five teams in the AL standings all rank among the top seven in rotation run prevention.

In the wake of C.C. Sabathia’s most recent IL placement, the Yankees turned to a bullpen game to fill out the fifth slot in their rotation, so there seems to be an ideal opportunity for building up Severino’s workload at the MLB level. Notably, pitching coach Larry Rothschild raved to Martin about Severino’s shape, praising his fastball velocity and slider spin. Taking Rothschild at his word, it seems plausible the 25 year-old could be in position to handle major league hitters quite shortly.

The Bombers have had an easier time replacing Betances thanks to a never-ending shuttle of quality relief arms. Like Severino, the big righty hasn’t pitched in the majors this season, with a shoulder impingement explaining his absence. Boone told Martin the Yankees expect Betances will need some more minor-league time to build up strength, but his season debut also seems to be in the near future, Martin adds. It’ll be important for the 31 year-old to show his trademark power stuff when he does return, as Betances is scheduled to hit free agency for the first time this offseason.

Yankees Health Updates: Severino, Betances, Andujar, Urshela, Stanton

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Rumor has it that the Yankees have dealt with a few bites of the injury bug this year. Here’s the latest on the health front …

  • It’ll be a big day for the Yanks on Friday. Two key righties — Luis Severino and Dellin Betances — will each take the ball for the club’s Trenton affiliate. Neither has pitched in the big leagues yet this year, but both could be key late-season additions for the AL East champions-to-be. It’s still anyone’s guess what these hurlers will be able to contribute.
  • Third baseman Miguel Andujar has been undergoing physical therapy since his season-ending shoulder surgery back in May and will begin participating in full baseball activities next week (Twitter link via Laura Albanese of the New York Daily News). Andujar expects to be at 100 percent come Spring Training next season. The talented 24-year-old figures to play a major role in the club’s near-future plans, though he’ll be returning to a different situation than the one he left.
  • Of more immediate concern at the hot corner is Gio Urshela, who has been out with a groin injury. He’s likely to jump right back into the lineup after the ten-day minimum, skipper Aaron Boone indicated to reporters including James Wagner of the New York Times (Twitter link). The 27-year-old Urshela has outdone Andujar, slashing .331/.370/.555 with 18 long balls in 414 plate appearances.
  • And then there’s long-lost slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who’s still nursing a knee injury. While the 29-year-old’s anticipated output has improbably been replaced by a rotating cast of unlikely heroes, it’d still be nice to get him back for the postseason. Stanton has finally picked up some “momentum,” per Boone (via Lindsey Adler of The Athletic, on Twitter). The outfielder/DH is slated to face live pitching at the club’s Florida facility. His timeline remains unclear, but it seems there’s finally some light at the end of the tunnel.

East Notes: Yankees, Cano, Nationals, Marlins

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Injured Yankees ace Luis Severino is set to begin a rehab assignment at the Double-A level Sunday, manager Aaron Boone told George A. King III of the New York Post and other reporters. It’ll be a long-awaited return to game action for Severino, whose shoulder and lat issues have prevented him from taking the hill this season. He’ll “probably” throw around 35 pitches in the contest, per Boone. Meanwhile, in encouraging news for the first-place Bombers’ lineup, first basemen/designated hitters Luke Voit and Edwin Encarnacion are progressing in their rehabs. Voit, who hasn’t played since July 30 because of a sports hernia, is “on track” to come back Friday, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweets. The 36-year-old Encarnacion’s not as close, but Boone “believes” he’ll come off the shelf soon, per Hoch. Encarnacion has been down since Aug. 3 with a fractured right wrist.

Here’s more from NYC and a couple other cities:

  • Mets second baseman Robinson Cano is making notable progress as he works back from a torn hamstring, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports. Cano – out since Aug. 5 – “appears likely” to return sometime next month, per DiComo, which would represent a best-case recovery for someone who was expected to miss six to 12 weeks at the time of the injury. The longtime star, 36, has posted weak production in his first year as a Met, with whom he has slashed .252/.295/.415 with 10 home runs in 346 plate appearances. But Cano’s bat seemed to be waking up in the days before his injury, which aided New York during a white-hot stretch in which it raced into wild-card contention. The Mets are now mired in a four-game skid, though, and sit three out of playoff position.
  • Nationals left-hander Roenis Elias could rejoin their bullpen “by the end of the week,” Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes. Elias has only made one appearance and recorded two outs for the Nationals, who acquired him from the Mariners at the July 31 trade deadline. He succumbed to a hamstring strain on the base paths, of all places, back on Aug. 2. Teammate Ryan Zimmerman has been out for even longer (plantar fasciitis in his right foot has kept him out since July 23), but his return also appears imminent, Zuckerman relays. This has been a tough age-34 season for the first baseman, who has been on the IL twice thanks to foot issues and has mustered a subpar .246/.311/.390 line over 132 plate appearances.
  • After suffering a broken bone in his left hand last Friday, Marlins third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson will indeed miss the rest of the season, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com. However, Anderson won’t need to undergo surgery, and will go through “a normal winter” as a result, manager Don Mattingly announced. That’s a silver lining for the Marlins and Anderson, one of their few offensive threats over the past couple years.

Health Notes: Lopez, Gott, Indians, McKay, Yankees

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Marlins righty Pablo Lopez returned today from the 10-day injured list. The 23-year-old had been out since June with shoulder problems, so it’s good to see he was able to get back up to speed before the end of the season. Lopez wasn’t at his best, allowing four earned in five innings, but averaged 94.1 mph with his fastball.

Here are some more health notes from around the game …

  • The Giants are sending reliever Trevor Gott in for a closer look after he experienced tightness in his right forearm tonight, as John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle was among those to cover on Twitter. That’s not the news anyone wanted at the end of an enormously successful season for the young reliever, who has been among the nicest surprises in San Francisco. At this point, there’s nothing to be done but wait and hope that there isn’t a significant underlying problem.
  • There are a bevy of updates on the health front for the Indians, as MLB.com’s Mandy Bell covers on Twitter. In particular, the club has a big slate of rehabbing hurlers appearing over the next few days. Danny Salazar threw a frame today at Double-A without incident. Jefry Rodriguez is slated to appear with the club’s top affiliate tomorrow, with fellow starter Carlos Carrasco and reliever Dan Otero scheduled to throw in game action on Wednesday. Meanwhile, long-absent outfielder Bradley Zimmer has reached the Triple-A level and seems likely to be an option in the majors again soon.
  • Prized young Rays hurler Brendan McKay, optioned down after a rough recent start, has hit the injured list at Triple-A, as MLB.com’s Juan Toribio was among those to tweet. He’s said to be dealing with shoulder fatigue, which sounds worrisome but doesn’t appear to be cause for any concern. The expectation is that he won’t miss more than a week of action, which means he ought to be ready to help the Rays again soon — if and when he’s needed.
  • As usual, there’s a lengthy list of Yankees injury updates to touch upon. MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch has the latest (all links to Twitter account). Key righties Luis Severino and Dellin Betances are just one step removed from possible rehab outings, which puts them back on the map for activation down the stretch — and potential postseason availability. The situation is less certain for outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who “could take on-field batting practice Tuesday for the first time” since going down with a PCL strain about two months ago. And the club indicates it’s possible that southpaw Jordan Montgomery will be ready to throw in the majors before the end of the regular season. He’s slated to continue his rehab work at Double-A. As for shortstop Didi Gregorius, he’s bouncing back quickly after being hit by a pitch. He could be back in the lineup in short order.

Latest On Yankees Pitching Plans

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The Yankees rotation has long been a source of worry for fans of the club. While the concerns haven’t stopped the Yanks from dominating the AL East, the staff isn’t without question marks. MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch is among the reporters to pass along the latest from the team (in this report and these tweets).

Of most immediate concern was the news that veteran southpaw CC Sabathia will return to the active roster on Sunday. He’ll return following a brief respite for his problematic knee and look to improve upon his 4.78 ERA.

Even if Sabathia is able to get some positive momentum going, he doesn’t seem like an optimal postseason starter. The same holds for the club’s other aging lefty rotation piece, J.A. Happ, whose season-long struggles are well-documented. He’ll be looking for a turnaround outing today.

It’s interesting to think about the possible ways the Yankees could best utilize these veteran southpaws. Perhaps the most intriguing concept is some kind of piggyback arrangement involving a pair of high-octane young righties who may not quite be capable of handling full starter’s duties this season. Jonathan Loaisiga is just returning from injury and hasn’t yet established himself in the bigs, while Luis Severino is still working back. There’s optimism Severino will be a factor next month, though even a minor setback could end his season and he may not be able to ramp up fully so late in the year.

There are also at least some questions involving the late-season handling of the emergent Domingo German. As Hoch explains, German did not reach 100 frames last year and has never thrown more than 123 1/3 in a professional season (a high-water mark he reached in 2014). The club is not going to let him throw an unrestrained volume of innings this year, but also has decided not to publicize the limits.

Indeed, skipper Aaron Boone says that the organization has not “even honestly gotten deep into those conversations yet” as to when and how to pull back on German’s usage. Boone suggests that the return of other hurlers will help the club manage the 27-year-old’s workload. Fortunately, with a big division lead to work with, it seems the Yanks aren’t worried that they’ll miss out on any key innings. “[W]e feel like he’s strong right now and still has a lot left in the tank,” says Boone.

There is still one other intriguing possibility to keep an eye on as well. Tommy John rehabber Jordan Montgomery has thrown a two-inning sim game. Could he be an option late in the year and into the postseason? “We’ll see,” says Boone.

Latest On Yankees’ Voit, Severino, Betances, Sabathia

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Surgery has seemed like a strong possibility for Yankees first baseman Luke Voit since he landed on the injured list with a sports hernia on July 31. Fortunately for New York, however, Voit’s “very optimistic” he’ll be able to avoid going under the knife, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic tweets. Voit will hit Tuesday for the first time he went to the IL.

Core problems have derailed Voit’s season dating back to the start of July, when an abdominal strain forced him to the shelf. This has nonetheless been a strong season for the 28-year-old Voit, who has slashed .278/.392/.493 with 19 home runs in 416 plate appearances. Voit has been one of the top offensive performers in a New York offense that has survived one major injury after another this year en route to a first-place tie for the American League’s best record. With him and DH/first baseman Edwin Encarnacion currently among wounded Yankees, the club has been deploying a combination of utilityman extraordinaire DJ LeMahieu and Mike Ford at 1B. A large cast, including Ford, has been sharing DH duties of late.

Like New York’s offense, its pitching staff has faced notable injuries throughout 2019. The Yankees’ top starter, Luis Severino, and their No. 1 setup man, Dellin Betances, haven’t pitched at all because of shoulder and lat problems. But both right-handers got through their bullpen sessions Monday without issues, per Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network (Twitter links). Expectations are that Severino will throw one more bullpen before he graduates to facing live hitters. There’s optimism he’ll be able to help the Yankees’ rotation by mid-September, David Lennon of Newsday observes. Betances will toss another bullpen Wednesday.

Meanwhile, left-hander CC Sabathia is progressing in his recovery from right knee inflammation and could rejoin the Yankees’ rotation for their series against Cleveland this weekend, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. Sabathia has been on the IL since July 28.

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