The New York Yankees seem to be getting healthier at the right time.
Center fielder Harrison Bader, who came over via trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, is already playing rehab games, and so is reliever Zack Britton.
Starting pitcher Luis Severino, who suffered a right lat strain in mid-July, is also getting ready to play at the minor league level.
The good news is that the Yankees announced Severino would take his rehab to the closest minor league level to the majors: Triple-A.
“Today, the Yankees transferred the rehab assignment of RHP Luis Severino from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre,” the team announced via Twitter.
Today, the Yankees transferred the rehab assignment of RHP Luis Severino from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) September 15, 2022
That’s obviously good news, and indicates that he is getting closer to making his long-awaited return.
The Yankees Had To Manage His Workload
Needing a roster spot, the Yanks sent Severino to the 60-day injured list back in mid-July, even though his lat strain was relatively mild.
The player didn’t like this, because he felt he could return in significantly less than two months.
Still, the Yanks weren’t going to take any chances, and it was a good way to manage his inning workload: due to serious injuries in 2019, 2020, and 2021, the power right-hander barely pitched since 2018.
The Yankees couldn’t assign a 200-inning workload to him just like that.
The talented righty was having a very good season with the Yanks, and will return to a 3.45 ERA.
In 16 starts and 86 innings, he has a 5-3 record, 95 strikeouts, and a very good 1.07.
When healthy, he is an excellent second starter in any postseason rotation, but he will need to show he is completely over his lat issue.
He will likely have two or three starts down the stretch to do so.
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