Carlos Rodon’s debut for the Yankees may take a little longer than expected.
Rodon has started off the year on the injured list with a forearm strain, but his rehab has been delayed due to back tightness that has acted up recently. During an appearance on the Talkin Yankees podcast, Boone said that issue pushed things back a few days.
“Rodon has back tightness. It’s kind of delayed his next live which was supposed to be yesterday/today,” Boone said. “So it’s probably going to be a few days. Elbow-wise he’s doing great. We’ll see how the next couple days are there. But we’re getting there.”
Rodon had been scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Sunday and a live batting practice on Monday, but the back tightness impacted that. It would have been the first time that the Yankees’ pitcher had faced hitters since the spring when the forearm strain first appeared.
Boone told reporters in Cleveland later in the day that Rodon would throw a bullpen session on Wednesday, according to YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits.
The $162 million offseason addition has yet to pitch this season for the Yankees and he has been one of several injuries to New York’s starting rotation. Frankie Montas and Luis Severino have also been sidelined.
The Yanks had said that once Rodon had started to face live batters he would be about a month away from finally taking the mound. Under the original plan that would have pegged his return for mid-May.
While the bullpen session is good news, it’s unclear how much of an impact the back tightness will have on his potential return.
Rodon had been signed in December by the Yankees and was expected to be the No. 2 man in the rotation after Gerrit Cole. The 30-year-old appeared in just one spring training start in which he threw just two innings and allowed five runs on six hits along with two home runs.
The lefty is coming off a career year with the San Francisco Giants where he went 14-8 last season with a 2.88 ERA. Rodon has dealt with several injuries over the course of his career and New York is hoping that this isn’t going to become a major issue after locking him for the next six years.
