The Yankees traded away a good portion of their pitching depth to Oakland to get Frankie Montas final month. The right-hander was anticipated to be their No. 2 starter within the postseason, however now he’s unlikely to be out there for no less than the primary spherical of the playoffs, supervisor Aaron Boone admitted.
“Well, I mean, it’s probably getting to a point where it’s going to be tough, as like a starting, built-up option,” Boone mentioned earlier than Sunday night time’s recreation in opposition to the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. “Especially if [it’s] a few more days and we’re at 14 days [without throwing] and then you start building that back. So that might be a challenge, but I do think there’s a chance that he can have a role and impact us. It’s just a matter of how the next couple of weeks go.”
Montas mentioned Sunday the shoulder irritation that put him on the injured listing on Sept. 20 is feeling higher, however there isn’t any scheduled date for him to begin throwing once more. There are 10 days left within the common season.
Since coming to the Yankees, Montas has been lower than spectacular. So far, he has a 6.35 ERA in eight begins with the Bombers.
The Yankees dealt minor league pitching prospects Luis Medina and Ken Waldichuk together with J.P. Sears, who had already contributed to the massive league membership, for Montas and reliever Lou Trivino (who coincidentally is the one one of many Yankees’ deadline acquisitions who has not been injured). The thought was that Montas had success in opposition to the Rays, who’ve given the Yankees issues within the common season and the playoffs and the Astros, who’ve crushed the Bombers within the American League Championship Series two occasions within the final six years. Montas has a 2.23 ERA in opposition to the Rays in eight profession begins and a 3.40 in opposition to the Astros in 15 begins.
LEMAHIEU LIMPING TO THE END
DJ LeMahieu thinks he might be able to come off the injured listing on the finish of the upcoming three-game sequence in opposition to the Blue Jays in Toronto. The infielder has been out with proper massive/second toe irritation, a problem that has been plaguing him for the reason that first half of the season.
But first, LeMahieu and the Yankees must consider he can get good swings off — after which he has to show he can do it in video games to be a viable choice for the playoffs.
“I mean, it’s got to a point where he feels like this is something that we need to try and worthwhile to find out,” Boone mentioned. “And then and then we’ll kind of make those evaluations as he gets out there.”
LeMahieu had a cortisone shot in July and it helped for a couple of weeks. He and the staff tried orthotics in his cleats and they’re discussing pictures that would assist him handle the ache to play by it.
BOUNCE BACK BRITTON
Zack Britton bounced again after pitching in an enormous league recreation for the primary time in over a 12 months. The lefty reliever had a troublesome 2022 debut, however the Yankees had been solely nervous about how his surgically reconstructed left elbow felt after the outing Saturday.
“The elbow feels really good,” Boone mentioned. “You know, he had sore legs and stuff like that. But that was a good test for him getting out in that environment, throw your 19 pitches and his stuff took an uptick from what he’s been doing the last month. So to feel good from an elbow standpoint, I think today was good. It was good to see and we’ll just continue to see how he continues to bounce back.”
Britton walked Rafael Devers, gave up a single to Xander Bogaerts and struck out Alex Verdugo. He then walked Kike Hernandez and Triston Casas to herald a run.
Britton, whose sinker velocity ticked as much as 94.7 miles per hour Saturday, has in depth closing expertise. The veteran has 154 profession saves and had a 1.89 ERA in 2020, his final full season. He is within the remaining 12 months of a $53 million, four-year contract with the Yankees.
Right now, the Yankees are closing by committee.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com