Yankees starter nearing major step in rehab

The New York Yankees have been without starter Carlos Rodón to this point. New York’s big offseason acquisition was sidelined by a minor forearm strain in spring training and subsequently bothered by back issues. The back has kept him out of action and raised particular concern last week when Rodón relayed that doctors had called his injury a “chronic” problem.

While that cast plenty of uncertainty as to when the star southpaw would be able to take the mound, it is possible he starts ramping up in the coming days. Chris Kirschner of the Athletic tweeted on Tuesday that Rodón had received a cortisone injection and will work out on Friday. It is possible he progresses back to mound work as soon as this weekend, which would enable him to begin building strength via a throwing program.

The Yankees have also been without Frankie Montas and Luis Severino due to injuries. While Montas is expected to be out until late in the year, Severino threw 3 1/3 innings for Triple-A Scranton Wilkes/Barre to start a rehab assignment Wednesday afternoon. Those injuries have forced the Yankees to rely on the likes of Domingo Germán, Jhony Brito and Clarke Schmidt out of the rotation to middling results.

Checking in on some other injury situations around the AL:

• Jared Walsh will head on a rehab stint with the Los Angeles Angels’ top affiliate in Salt Lake this weekend, the team informed reporters (including Sam Blum of the Athletic). He will play at least three games with the Bees before the Halos determine whether he is ready for his first MLB action of the season. Walsh lost the first six weeks of the campaign to insomnia and recurring headaches. Now that he has put those issues behind him, he’ll try to get on track offensively. An All-Star in 2021, the lefty-swinging first baseman slumped to a .215/.269/.374 showing last year before his season was cut short by thoracic outlet syndrome. The Angels have divided first base reps almost evenly between Brandon Drury, Gio Urshela and Jake Lamb. The left-handed hitting Lamb has struggled in the early going and could be the odd man out once Walsh is ready to return.
• Michael Brantley has yet to make his season debut for the Houston Astros. Over the weekend, the team hinted that he could be back for their three-game set in Anaheim to start the week. That didn’t happen and manager Dusty Baker said Wednesday that the veteran outfielder had departed the team to go for some testing (via Chandler Rome of the Athletic). The Astros were customarily reluctant to divulge specifics, but it’s no longer entirely clear when they expect Brantley to be ready for activation. He had been ramping up from last year’s season-ending shoulder surgery and had played in nine rehab games with Triple-A Sugar Land through last Saturday.
• The Chicago White Sox placed right-hander Davis Martin on the minor league injured list last week. Scott Merkin of MLB.com tweets that Martin has a forearm strain in his throwing arm. The issue’s severity isn’t clear, though forearm strains can sometimes be precursors for more serious injuries. At the very least, it seems he’ll be out of the short-term mix should the team need to tap into its rotation depth. Martin started 9-of-14 MLB games last year, working to a 4.83 ERA across 63 1/3 innings. He entered 2023 as the team's No. 6 starter on the depth chart. Martin had been pitching well for Charlotte, allowing only five runs with 20 strikeouts and seven walks over 16 innings. Chicago has avoided rotation injuries at the big league level -- the group of Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito, Lance Lynn, Michael Kopech and Mike Clevinger has taken all 38 starts to date.