The New York Yankees have been the best team in all of baseball this season, with several success stories that have carried them to where they are right now.
But over the weekend, they were dealt a tough blow when star reliever Michael King suffered an elbow injury that will keep him out for the remainder of the 2022 season.
The 27-year-old right-hander went 6-3 with a 2.29 ERA in 34 appearances this season.
Now, the Yankees will prepare for a stretch without one of their best relievers.
But MLB Network insider Jon Heyman provided somewhat of a positive update on King via Twitter, saying that surgery is likely only going to be needed to repair the fracture in his elbow, and that Tommy John elbow surgery might be avoided all together.
Michael King UCL said to look pretty good for a pitcher so it’s looking like surgery is only need to repair fracture. 2023 said to be in play with hope he can even be ready for spring training.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 26, 2022
King May Avoid TJ Surgery
This is good news for the Yankees as it pertains to 2023.
For now, it doesn’t help much.
But it has to at least be comforting for the Yankees and their fans to know that he could still find a way to return by spring training.
Still, it doesn’t help much right now.
This injury will likely force the Yankees to go out and scour the relief pitcher’s market at the trade deadline, which will take place in a week.
The Yankees are going to need someone to cover all the high leverage spots that King was covering for much of the season.
Even with the good news from Heyman, it doesn’t help the Yankees much right now.
But it appears that the Yanks are hopeful that this won’t be a problem next year once spring training rolls around.
Time will tell if the prognosis on King turns out to be correct.
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