The Yankees made a series of roster moves today, reinstating left-hander Carlos Rodón from the 60-day injured list and recalling outfielder Franchy Cordero. To clear two active roster spots, righty Deivi García was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and outfielder Jake Bauers was placed on the 10-day injured list. Bauers’ placement is retroactive to July 6 and due to a left rotator cuff contusion. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Rodón, lefty Nestor Cortes was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Rodón will take the mound tonight against the Cubs. It’s his long-awaited Yankee debut. The two-time All-Star signed a six-year, $162MM free agent contract over the winter. He was expected to pair with Gerrit Cole as co-aces atop the starting staff. That’s taken longer than anticipated, as Rodón battled a forearm strain in Spring Training and dealt with back discomfort over the past couple months.
The star southpaw has made three minor league rehab starts, tossing 10 2/3 frames of one-run ball. He threw 58 pitches in his final rehab outing last Saturday. The Yankees will surely be cautious with his workload tonight and coming out of the All-Star Break, but they’ll get their first glimpse of he and Cole as a one-two punch.
Cortes was expected to be a key part of the rotation himself. The southpaw has struggled to a 5.16 ERA over 11 appearances after consecutive sub-3.00 seasons in 2021-22. Cortes then landed on the injured list, retroactive to June 5, after straining his left rotator cuff.
The 60-day minimum backdates to his original IL placement. Cortes is now officially out into the first week of August. It appears he could be back around when first eligible. Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News noted earlier this week (on Twitter) that Cortes got through a 25-pitch bullpen session without issue and is expected to throw live batting practice on Sunday.
As for Bauers, he’ll be out at least through next weekend. The left-handed hitter has filled in reasonably well since being called upon in late April. Over 154 plate appearances, he’s hitting .224/.312/.470 with seven home runs.
HankAaronDidGreenies
Nestor Cortes has been destroyed by the pitch clock
mlb fan
So every injury is now the fault of the pitch clock? Conspiracy theories seem to grow much faster in the summer months.
Paleobros
That’s when baseball happens
HankAaronDidGreenies
No. I was talking about his performance. Cortes was good because he was a master of fooling the hitter of when he was going to throw the ball. His peripherals were pretty average. This isn’t a conspiracy. Nestor was never a good pitcher.
Gasu1
Not 100%. There were some interesting overlays when he was at his peak, showing how he could vary his release point while still maintaining the same arm movement, and still hit the strike zone in the same place. It was amazing deceptive, but actually had nothing to do with all those delays. His “pre-game show” was certainly a distraction, but mostly because it reduced the batter’s ability to focus, rather than fool them on timing; which allowed his arm deception to be even more effective.
Joe says...
You need to show your work on that Hank. For a hundred years, pitchers pitched at the current pace and did just fine.
Roll
@joe
Steve Traschel calls shenanigans … I could cook a holiday turkey between each of his pitches. Damn the man worked slow.
rct
You said it, @Roll. Traschel was a chore to watch, even when he was pitching well.
Wilmer the Thrillmer
The pitcher version of Garciapara.
redsoxu571
Not really. I just timed video of Garciaparra to confirm my memory; while he ABs were super busy between pitches, from the time the catcher began throwing back to the mound to the hitter being ready to hit, Garciaparra took about 10 seconds to get through his ritual. That strikes me as a pretty typical amount of time for a batter at the time with no pitch clock rules to accelerate things along. It didn’t disrupt the pitch-to-pitch cadence of the game much if at all, much less approach Traschel’s human rain delay deal.
avenger65
I’ll match Mike Hargrive against Garciaparra any day of the week. Hargrove wasn’t known as “The Human Rain Delay” for nothing.
ChuckyNJ
Y’all got the name of that slow-working ex-Met/ex-Cub pitcher spelled wrong. It’s Trachsel.
Roll
if you gonna be correct its ex-Cub / ex-Devil Ray (hadnt changed name yet) / ex-Blue Jay / ex-Met / ex-Oriole
🙂 at the minimum should be ex-Cub / ex-Met since he played for the Cubs more than the Mets and started with the Cubs
Rumors2godsears
Dice K was aggravating to watch.. it always seemed to take him 5 mins to throw a pitch.
Raysasineppswasplanted
Trashcel talk
deweybelongsinthehall
Dice-k frustrations also happened once he released the ball…he was not even close to his hype.
HankAaronDidGreenies
Every pitcher is the same and threw at the exact same time? News to me.
avenger65
That’s a good idea. DESTROY THE PITCH CLOCK!!
JPR
or Nestor Cortes has simply reverted to his norm
rocky7
Absolutely true….the Yankees were kidding themselves after his great year that he was going to continue to dominate and actually be their #3 starter……..he is and has always been a gimmicky pitcher who uses pedestrian tools but most importantly guile and ingenuity to succeed……….
Gasu1
Guile and ingenuity are actual pitching skills; and more importantly, they tend to get better, not worse, with age.
HankAaronDidGreenies
They also tend to get worse when you’re forced to pitch at the exact same time
gmenfan
Rodon back on the IL in 3 … 2 … 1 …
mlbnyyfan
Looks like Florial still in the doghouse Cordero over Florial.
JPR
Florial needs to get out and play somewhere else – once the Yankees brand you, you’re done
slider32
Shoulder injuries are not good news for pitchers, they can end careers more than any injury for a pitcher.
User 3595123227
Oh my gosh I hope Rodon doesn’t severely injure himself putting on his shirt or something as strenuous as that! Maybe get his fingertip caught and jammed under a button. He needs to be really really careful. Extra careful.
kcmark
Watch that oblique when lifting up that morning cup of coffee.
Edp007
Minor league offence right now Yanks put out every night
mlbnyyfan
I hate to admit it but Yankees should be selling at the deadline. They could trade Torres, Bader and possibly Cole. Teams like Texas would be interested in Cole.
rocky7
Maybe, but the problem with selling is the return…..Cash and his incompetents continue to choose the wrong players to either trade for or acquire….aging veterans whose best years were for their former teams, players coming off injuries who may still be injured when acquired (Montas, Bader) or minor league players who are stuck in the minors wasting their best years while the veterans at the major league level block their ascension……….
Old York
Another championship banner to hang is only months away.
avenger65
The fans might hang Rodon first after he lost to the cubs.
Old York
@avenger65
Yanks are mostly a terrible team this year. They need to rethink their strategy as tehy’re still banking on buying up mega HR hitters and brand names. Should take a page from the Rays, Braves & Astros playbook.
Mr big dig
And the dodgers playbook. They Yankees will forever be a terrible team. The fans are garbage and place unreasonable expectations on the team adding unneeded pressure. Also The Yankees aren’t playing against part-time blacksmiths and butchers anymore so good luck winning another 27,000 championships against scrubs.
Rumors2godsears
Not a Yankee fan but Rodon didn’t exactly look terrible in the game, he gave up 2 runs in 5 innings. Didn’t get shelled.
Bright Side
Yep, in Atlanta.
Dr2022
Yes hundreds of months
Mr big dig
First thing Nestor Cortez did was order an entire taco platter and inhale like 50 tacos.
Dr2022
Great, so now we will lose each game 2 to 1 or 3 to 2 instead of 10 to 2. Big improvement. Progress at least. Lesser humiliation.
whyhayzee
Rodon comes back and they fall out of the Wild Card? At least there’s plenty of season left.
Edp007
Even Judge coming back won’t help this putrid lineup. Judge is great. But he’ll just be walked any time it matters
nrd1138
Does Pointsbet have a line on when Rodon will be back on the DL?