Home›Baseball›Yankees’ rotation disrupted by mount of injuries

Yankees’ rotation disrupted by mount of injuries

Baseball, Featured, New York Yankees, Other Sports

March 10, 2023

With just under three weeks to go to Opening Day, the Yankees’ starting rotation has been disrupted by a mount of injuries.

The blows just keep coming

The first announcement came on the first day of camp when the Yankees announced that Frankie Montas would undergo shoulder surgery. The blows didn’t stop there with the additions of Nestor Cortes (hamstring strain), Carlos Rodón (forearm strain), and relief pitchers Tommy Kahnle (bicep tendinitis) and Lou Trivino (elbow strain).

Cortes was slated to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, but was forced to sit out due to his injury. He has since thrown a few live batting practice sessions, and is expected to make a full return in time for the start of the season.

Unfortunately for the Yankees, the remaining injuries are looking a little more long-term.

Disrupted rotation

Frankie Montas

Frankie Montas will miss the first half of the season. The Yankees acquired Montas from the Oakland Athletics when he was just a few weeks removed from the injured list. Just eight starts and a 6.38 ERA later, Montas found himself back on the injured list with inflammation in the same shoulder.

Montas told the New York Post that he wasn’t fully healthy when the Yankees acquired him in the trade. "I was like eh-eh. I wasn't fully 100 percent. I was trying to pitch through it.”

Yikes. It’s difficult for us as Yankees fans to understand how this was overlooked.

Montas underwent arthroscopic surgery last month which is followed by a minimum 12-week rehab stint. If rehab goes as planned, he could be throwing again by the end of May, and potentially return to the rotation in late-July or early-August.

Carlos Rodón

Though it’s unclear how long the Yankees' $162 million off-season purchase, Carlos Rodón, will be out, it doesn’t look good. Rodón is coming off two straight All-Star years, but the injured list isn’t foreign to him. Rodón was sidelined for the entire 2019 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

“He’s worth the wait,” Yankees GM Brian Cashman told the New York Post. “All we want — obviously he’s the real deal when he’s capable of providing it and not forcing something.”

Dominoes effect the bullpen

With injuries piling up in the rotation, the Yankees will look to the bullpen to make some starts, but the bullpen, too, has caught the bug.

Relief pitchers Tommy Kahnle and Lou Trivino will begin the 2023 season on the sidelines.

The Yankees welcomed free-agent Tommy Kahnle back to the Bronx on a two-year deal this offseason after they waived him at the end of 2020 due to Tommy John surgery. Kahnle fanned an impressive 2.84 ERA last season with the Dodgers. The Yankees expect to see a healthy return from the veteran in April.

Lou Trivino is expected to be out of commission until May at the earliest with a mild elbow ligament sprain. The Bombers bullpen will be eager to get him back on healthy terms after he posted a 1.66 ERA in 25 relief outings last year.

Other notable injuries

OF Harrison Bader (left oblique strain) | Expected return: TBD
RHP Scott Effross (Tommy John surgery) | Expected return: 2024
C Ben Rortvedt (shoulder aneurysm) | Expected return: April-June
RHP Luis Gil (Tommy John surgery) | Expected return: Second half of 2023

Things don't appear to be off to a good start for the Yankees, but no storm comes without some form of a positive outcome. Take Oswaldo Cabrera, for example. Imagine if he hadn’t been discovered during one of the worst slumps in Yankees’ history. Perhaps this is an opportunity to see what the less-experienced can do in higher-leverage situations.