The Yankees got some good news on Carlos Rodon as the starter works his way to finally making his debut for the club. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters that a second CT scan confirmed to the team that there wasn’t anything structurally damaged with Rodon’s back.
Boone had been saying all along that Rodon’s recent back issues weren’t anything to worry and the new test results appeared to reinforce that. The lefty was still dealing with some symptoms, but they were dissipating.
Rodon played catch on Sunday before the Yankees’ 5-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium. Boone called it a good sign that he had been able to throw.
“Hopefully he continues with the throwing program throughout the week and hopefully the back continues to subside, but I don’t think it’s anything major structurally from the test,” Boone said, according to NJ.com. “He hasn’t lost a lot of throwing time, so he should get right back into that assuming he continues to throw this week as the back hopefully subsides and the medicine does its thing.”
The next step for Rodon would be a bullpen session, which Boone felt he should advance to quickly. Rodon had started to develop the back issue after he began his throwing program as he returned from the forearm strain that sidelined him in spring training.
The Yankees have been dealing with plenty of injuries so far this season. They have 12 players on the injured list at the moment, with Rodon, Luis Severino and Frankie Montas among those from the starting rotation.
Rodon was signed this offseason to a six-year, $162 million deal with the idea of him being the team’s No. 2 pitcher behind Gerrit Cole. All the injuries forced the Yankees to cobble together a starting rotation that has produced a pleasent surprise in Jhony Brito and some tough outings for Clarke Schmidt.
