Carlos Rodón, who has not pitched for the New York Yankees since signing a massive $162 million free-agent deal in the offseason, won’t be pitching for them anytime soon.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman updated reporters on Rodón’s situation Friday, revealing he’s now battling another health problem.
The left-hander originally hit the IL with a muscle strain in his pitching arm. While that condition has improved, Rodón’s progress has been hampered by back problems.
“Rodón wants to throw right now and we’re holding him back until we make sure he sees the doctor, checks all the boxes, because ultimately all we know is whenever we deploy him, we want to make sure he’s good to go for the rest of the way,” Cashman said (via NJ.com). “Carlos is frustrated. He wants to throw. He wanted to throw today. We said no.”
This may not be a temporary problem, either. Yankees insider Bryan Hoch reports Rodón said doctors have diagnosed his back issue as “chronic.” He’s due to get a cortisone injection next week. When asked if he could possibly return in July, Rodón responded, “I can’t put a timeline on anything. I’ll get this injection and I want to throw as soon as I can.”
This is obviously the last thing the Yankees need. Three of the five pitchers the Yankees had in their starting rotation heading into the season have yet to pitch. Luis Severino (lat) and Frankie Montas (shoulder) are also sidelined.
“Losing Montas, [Luis Severino] and Rodón are huge losses,” Cashman said. “That was my biggest worry as we broke camp, but obviously with the number of injuries we experienced, maybe some underperformance at the same time with certain guys, as well as having baptized some of the young guns early on on the offensive side, really struggling to score runs. That’s what’s brought us to where we are right now.”
[NJ.com]
