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Brian Cashman On Yankees’ Search For Rotation Help

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If there was any doubt that the Yankees are in the market for starting pitching — not that there should have been — general manager Brian Cashman was candid about his team’s pursuit of rotation help in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter links, with audio).

“Yeah, we’re going to target starting pitching, and then if not, continue to try to reinforce the bullpen,” said Cashman. “But the bottom line is just trying to add quality to what we already have. … Houston’s going to get better. Tampa’s going to get better. Boston’s going to get better. Minnesota’s going to get better Oakland’s going to get better. … They’re going to add to their area [of need]. A lot of the players in the mix are in the similar category of quality, so there’s going to be a number of choices out there.”

Cashman noted that the Yankees are in a perhaps beneficial position, having both Luis Severino and Dellin Betances hopefully returning to the club in 2019 as a fallback in the event he is “not able to comfortably match up with somebody” in a trade. That said, the GM also conceded that he expects Severino to need “six or more weeks” before he’s ready to return (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch).

Cashman also acknowledged that 20-year-old right-hander Deivi Garcia, recently promoted to Triple-A, is “pushing himself into the mix” as an option to help at the big league level. The diminutive Garcia, listed at just 5’9″ and 163 pounds, breezed through Double-A opposition with a 3.00 ERA, 14.3 K/9, 4.4 BB/9, 0.35 HR/9 and a 41.9 percent ground-ball rate in 51 innings of work prior to his promotion.

Asking prices across the board have been high early in July, as one might expect, and the number of rental starters who are ticketed for free agency at season’s end outweighs the number of controllable names on the market. That won’t lead the Yankees to do anything rash, it seems. Cashman plainly stated that the organization wouldn’t move Garcia — ranked this week as the game’s No. 25 and No. 29 prospect by Baseball Prospectus and ESPN, respectively — for a rental player. The Yankees are already known to be averse to moving Clint Frazier in such a deal, and that line of thinking presumably applies to the organization’s other top prospects as well.

Over the past few weeks, the Yankees have been connected to most of the top trade candidates on the market, including Madison Bumgarner (link), Trevor Bauer (link), Zack Wheeler (link) and Marcus Stroman (link).

Latest On Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Dellin Betances

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The Yankees have been without injured corner outfielders Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge for almost the whole season, but it appears they’ll be back in the team’s lineup soon. Manager Aaron Boone suggested Tuesday that the sluggers could return during an upcoming homestand that spans from June 17-26, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com (Twitter links). In the meantime, both players will need to tune up in the minor leagues. Stanton started a rehab assignment at the High-A level Tuesday, while Judge is likely to embark on a rehab stint with either Triple-A Scranton or another affiliate this weekend.

New York’s one of nine teams that have cracked at least 100 home runs this year, but it hasn’t gotten any from the prodigious Stanton. The 29-year-old totaled only eight plate appearances before going to the injured list with a biceps strain April 1. While that problem is in the past, Stanton has since dealt with left shoulder and calf issues – the latter of which forced him back to the IL on May 22 shortly after he began a rehab assignment.

Judge, meanwhile, headed to the IL on April 21 with a significant left oblique strain. He opened his age-27 season with a flourish before that, slashing .288/.404/.521 (145 wRC+) with five homers in 89 trips to the plate.

Just as the Yankees’ offense has had to get by without Stanton and Judge, among others, their bullpen has been forced to survive without one of its best pieces. Right-hander Dellin Betances hasn’t pitched this season after being diagnosed with a bone spur in his shoulder in early April. That injury has healed, but the four-time All-Star is now battling a right lat strain. Although Boone announced it’s a low-grade strain, the Yankees will shut Betances down “for a few weeks,” Hoch writes.

“He’s still going to play a big role for us this year, just a little later than we thought,” Boone said of Betances.

Health Notes: Cingrani, Dominguez, Inciarte, Judge, Betances, German

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Let’s take a look at the latest injury news from around the game …

  • Dodgers lefty Tony Cingrani has undergone surgery on his left shoulder labrum, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports on Twitter. The recovery will cost him the remainder of the season. This news doesn’t come as a surprise, but it does represent confirmation that Cingrani will hit the open market without throwing another pitch in Los Angeles.
  • Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez is “hoping for a miracle” when it comes to his own potential surgery, as he tells reporters including Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). He’ll receive a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, but all indications are that Tommy John surgery will ultimately be performed.
  • The Braves haven’t yet seen much progress for outfielder Ender Inciarte, skipper Brian Snitker told David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other reporters. (Twitter link.) The veteran center fielder has yet to engage in any significant baseball activities, Snitker indicates, as the club has exercised ample care with his lumbar strain. “Still no timetable,” says Snitker. “… It’s kind of two steps forward and one back, it seems, in the whole process. It’s a back; you’ve got to be careful.”
  • There’s quite a bit of talent still bouncing around the injured list for the Yankees, with outfielder Aaron Judge the most notable of several stars. He’s making some measurable progress, having now advanced to taking cuts against high-velo pitching machines, manager Aaron Boone told reporters including Coley Harvey of ESPN (via Twitter). It’s even possible that Judge will be ready for some live action this weekend. There’s still no real timeline, but it certainly seems the slugger’s left oblique is feeling better.
  • A pair of Yankees righties have health events of some note tomorrow, Boone also announced. (MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch covered the news; Twitter links.) Reliever Dellin Betances (shoulder) is “still a little bit sore” after a recent setback, so he’s headed in for another MRI. Meanwhile, the club will see if a cortisone shot will help Domingo German deal with a hip flexor strain. He’s already on the IL but is hoping for a brief stay.

Giancarlo Stanton Nearing Rehab Assignment; Dellin Betances Suffers Setback

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Injured Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t appeared in the majors since March 31, but it looks as if he’s nearing a return. The slugger will begin a rehab assignment Monday or Tuesday, according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone (via James Wagner of the New York Times). If there aren’t any setbacks, he’ll be back in the majors 20 days from then.

In Stanton’s case, it would be unwise to automatically assume a smooth rehab stint. After all, the 29-year-old Stanton has already seen his rehab process go haywire this season. Stanton originally went to the injured list because of a left biceps strain, and he then suffered multiple other left side injuries (to his shoulder and calf) which have prevented him from returning to the Yankees.

Injuries to Stanton and fellow big-hitting corner outfielder Aaron Judge have forced New York to rely on Brett Gardner, Clint Frazier, Cameron Maybin and Mike Tauchman for the majority of the season. That quartet, to its credit, has performed reasonably well. However, every member of that group pales in comparison to Judge and Stanton. While Stanton didn’t come close to matching his NL MVP-winning output with the Marlins from 2017 last season, he still slashed .266/.343/.509 (127 wRC+) with 38 home runs in 705 plate appearances.

Just as the Yankees will welcome Stanton’s return with open arms, they’ll be thrilled when injured reliever Dellin Betances is back on their roster. However, Betances isn’t as close to a comeback. The right-hander, who has been out all season with a bone spur in his shoulder, “felt soreness” in his lat during a throwing session this week, Wagner reports. Betances will head to New York for tests.

Yankees Notes: Keuchel, Paxton, Betances, Judge

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The Yankees sent a top evaluator to watch free-agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel throw a sim game in Newport Beach, Calif., on Sunday, Erik Boland of Newsday reports. That’s not necessarily an indication Keuchel is destined to land in the Bronx once his months-long trek to the open market ends, though. Watching Keuchel may have simply been a case of the team doing its due diligence, as Boland notes. Regardless, the 31-year-old Keuchel has been throwing sim games roughly every five days in hopes of staying in shape for whichever club signs him. As a result, Keuchel’s “not too far away from where he was at the end of last season,” Bryan Hoch of MLB.com tweets.

  • New York’s rotation is about to benefit from a different established southpaw, James Paxton, who manager Aaron Boone said could come off the injured list Wednesday (via Boland). Paxton has been on the shelf since May 5 with a left knee injury, thus halting a terrific first season in New York. The former Mariner opened 2019 in spectacular fashion before going on the IL, tossing 37 2/3 innings of 3.11 ERA/2.50 FIP ball with 12.42 K/9 against 3.11 BB/9.
  • In further positive news for the Yankees’ pitching staff, reliever Dellin Betances will throw off a mound Monday for the first time in his rehab process, per Boone (via Hoch). Betances hasn’t pitched at all this season because of a bone spur in his right shoulder. With late-game hurlers Adam Ottavino, Zach Britton and Tommy Kahnle bridging the gap to closer Aroldis Chapman, the Yankees’ bullpen has gotten along fine without Betances. But Betances, a four-time All-Star, has long been the club’s go-to setup man and one of the game’s premier relievers. He’ll be a key summer reinforcement for the Yankees if his recovery stays on course.
  • Speaking of reinforcements, right fielder Aaron Judge – out since April 21 – is making progress as he works back from a left oblique strain, Hoch relays. “I’m feeling really good,” Judge told Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network on Sunday. “We’re progressing the way we want to, and it’s a good sign getting a chance to get on the field again and throw a little bit. It feels good to be back — sort of.” The slugger still hasn’t received clearance to swing a bat, but he’s hopeful that will change early this week. Even though Judge is the Yankees’ leading position player, they’ve managed to rip off 24 wins in 32 games without him or fellow injured superstar corner outfielder Giancarlo Stanton in the lineup. Brett Gardner, Clint Frazier, Cameron Maybin and Mike Tauchman (who’s currently in the minors) have held down the fort since Judge and Stanton have been laid up.

Yankees Select Nestor Cortes Jr., Transfer Dellin Betances To 60-Day Injured List

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May 9: The Yankees announced that Cortes has indeed been added to the Major League roster. In order to open space on the 40-man roster, right-hander Dellin Betances was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Betances has already been on the injured list for 44 days, so transferring him to the 60-day injured list at this point is largely a formality.

May 8, 9:52pm: Right-hander Jake Barrett has been optioned to Triple-A, the Yankees announced following tonight’s loss. The team will still need to make a 40-man move to accommodate Cortes.

9:34pm: The Yankees will select the contract of left-hander Nestor Cortes Jr. from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, reports Conor Foley of the Scranton Tribune-Times (via Twitter). The team has yet to formally announce the move, though Foley suggests that Cortes and his teammates were already informed of the move. A corresponding 40-man roster move will need to be made.

It’ll be the Yankees debut for Cortes, 24, though it won’t be his Major League debut. The Orioles selected him in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft and carried him on the big league roster for the season’s first couple of weeks before returning him to the Yankees. He tossed 4 2/3 innings in Baltimore and allowed four runs in that brief cup of coffee. Since returning to the Yankees organization last season, the 5’11”, 205-pound Cortes has pitched to a 3.90 ERA with 130 strikeouts against 48 walks and a 35.5 percent ground-ball rate in 145 1/3 innings of work at the Triple-A level.

Cortes won’t start for the Yankees tomorrow — that outing will go to J.A. Happ — but he’ll give the Yankees a fresh arm on the heels of a game in which the bullpen needed to cover five innings of work.

AL Injury Notes: Severino, Yankees, Eloy, Herrera, Salazar

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Yankees general manager Brian Cashman provided some updates on several of his injured players during an appearance today on The Front Office on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM.  (You can listen to some of the audio here, while ESPN.com’s Coley Harvey has the rundown.)  Perhaps the most pressing item is the status of Luis Severino, as Cashman said that the right-hander isn’t expected to return until after the All-Star break.  Severino has yet to pitch this season, first going on the IL with rotator cuff inflammation, and then suffering a lat strain while already sidelined.  That second injury led to a six-week shutdown from throwing, putting Severino on the shelf until roughly May 20.  Since Severino missed much of Spring Training dealing with his initial shoulder problem, it appears as though the Yankees are essentially restarting the righty’s preseason prep in order to get him fully ready for the second half.

Here’s more on the Yankees and some other injury situations from around the American League…

  • Cashman said that Clint Frazier (sprained ankle) will return to the 25-man roster on Monday.  The club is “hopeful” Aaron Hicks (back) is tentatively slated for minor league rehab games this week and could be activated from the IL to make his season debut next weekend, plus Giancarlo Stanton (bicep, shoulder injuries) could start his own minor league rehab stint next weekend.  In longer-term injuries, Cashman ruled Dellin Betances out until “sometime in June,” as Betances is still recovering from a bone spur in his throwing shoulder.  Betances recently received a cortisone shot and will start throwing again on Monday, the GM said.  The news is better for Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery), who is set to complete his throwing program this week and may begin extended Spring Training games within the next two weeks.  For even more injured Yankees, Cashman didn’t have anything new to report on Aaron Judge, Greg Bird, or Jacoby Ellsbury.
  • Eloy Jimenez’s high ankle sprain was seemingly going to put the young slugger out of action until mid-May, though MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reports (Twitter link) that Jimenez will now travel with the White Sox for their four-game series in Cleveland beginning on Monday.  As Merkin describes things, it is a “much much better scenario….[than] it first looked upon injury.”  It seems as though Jimenez will be able to avoid a minor league rehab stint and could end up spending only the 10-day minimum on the IL, though the Sox will obviously be as cautious as possible with their top prospect.
  • In other White Sox injury news, Kelvin Herrera left today’s game due to back stiffness and is day-to-day, manager Rick Renteria told Merkin and other reporters.  Herrera may not miss any substantial amount of time, as Renteria believes “it’s going to be something very light in terms of injury.”  It’s likely the back issue contributed to Herrera’s rough outing today, as he allowed five runs in just two-third of an inning against the Red Sox.  Prior to today’s ugliness, Herrera had been off to a nice start with Chicago, with a 2.76 ERA, 8.8 K/9, and 4.00 K/BB rate in his first 16 1/3 frames of the season.
  • Danny Salazar has hit another setback, as Indians manager Terry Francona told media (including the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Paul Hoynes) that Salazar had been shut down “a couple of days” after experiencing some soreness during a bullpen session last week.  Salazar missed all of 2018 dealing with shoulder problems that eventually required surgery, and he has yet to pitch this season as he makes his way back to full health.  Even before the shutdown, there was no timetable in place for when Salazar might yet return to the Tribe’s 25-man roster.

Dellin Betances Diagnosed With Bone Spur In Shoulder

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Yankees reliever Dellin Betances is dealing with a bone spur in his right shoulder, GM Brian Cashman announced tonight to reporters including Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News (via Twitter). He’ll need further treatment and rest, pushing back his anticipated timeline to return to the active roster.

The best guess at present is that Betances will need at least three weeks of rest. If things go well from that point, he could be ready for the big leagues in approximately six or seven weeks. While the news isn’t as bad as it could’ve been, the Yanks were surely hoping that Betances would be nearing a return at this point rather than re-starting the process.

While the Yanks can’t hope for Betances to re-join the pen until June, they’ll still have ample time to evaluate their roster needs in advance of the trade deadline. In the meantime, they’ll simply have to go without a pitcher who has been among the game’s most consistently dominant relievers for some time now. Fortunately, this ballclub carries a stacked relief unit with or without Betances.

Thus far, the Yankees’ season has been marred completely by a barrage of injuries. It’s not particularly surprising to see a few hurlers dealing with issues, and nobody is shocked to find Troy Tulowitzki and Jacoby Ellsbury on the shelf. But the Yankees’ injured list now borders on the absurd, with a run of incredibly talented players on the shelf — many with uncertain timelines for a return.

It’s never good to see players out of action, but the situation creates an undeniably fascinating dynamic. With the Red Sox limping out of the gates and the Rays starting hot, it now seems to be a true three-way race — with all the competitors also readying to jockey for position against other possible Wild Card clubs. We’re barely two weeks into the season, but the American League already looks quite a bit less top heavy than it appeared on paper.

Dellin Betances Slated To Receive MRI

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Rehabbing Yankees reliever Dellin Betances is not progressing on quite the timeline that might have been hoped. Manager Aaron Boone said today that a recent simulated game “didn’t go great,” as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch was among those to tweet. Betances is now heading back to New York to undergo an MRI on his shoulder.

Previously diagnosed with an impingement after experiencing a worrying spring velocity drop, Betances had been hoping to rest a bit and then ramp right back up. It seems now that the down time did not fully resolve the issues in the joint, which makes for no shortage of uncertainty for both player and team.

The Yankees have plenty of options to fill in for Betances and the resources to add more relievers if need be. But the club is already dealing with multiple injuries in other areas of the roster. At this stage of the season, at least, it can’t hope to find a reliever of Betances’s quality for anything approaching a reasonable price.

Things are even more concerning for Betances himself, as the big righty is playing out his final season of arbitration eligibility. High velocity and durability have been among his two biggest calling cards over a thus-far stellar career. Now, the 31-year-old will need to get healthy and regain the arm speed that has allowed him to post a 2.36 ERA with 14.6 K/9 over 381 total MLB innings.. If and when he manages that, there’ll still be some newfound uncertainty surrounding his health outlook.

Dellin Betances Will Begin Season On Injured List Due To Shoulder Impingement

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Yankees right-hander Dellin Betances will open the 2019 season on the injured list due to an impingement and inflammation in his right shoulder, general manager Brian Cashman announced to reporters Tuesday (Twitter links via the YES Network’s Jack Curry).

There’s no set timetable for when Betances might rejoin the big league bullpen. To this point in Spring Training, the right-hander’s fastball velocity has been sitting in the upper 80s and low 90s — a far cry from the 98 mph he’s averaged across the past two seasons. While all of that sounds ominous, the situation may not be as dire as Yankees fans fear; Betances will only require three to five days of rest before he attempts to resume throwing — a timeline that’s not indicative of a serious injury.

And, fortunately for the Yankees, if there’s one area in which they can withstand an injury, it’s the bullpen. Even with Betances sidelined early in the season, the Yankees will still have Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Chad Green and Jonathan Holder at the back of a deep and talented bullpen.

For Betances, the timing of the issue is highly unwelcome. The 30-year-old is entering his final season of club control and is set to become a free agent following the 2019 season. He’s earning $7.125MM this season and has been among the game’s most dominant bullpen weapons over the past half decade, compiling a 2.22 ERA with 14.6 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and just 0.6 HR/9 over 373 1/3 regular-season innings.

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