Quite a day for the Yankees in the Bronx Sunday, and it was quite a day for the Bombers in Hartford, too, as the Yankees had four major-leaguers make rehab appearances in the Double-A Somerset Patriots’ loss to the Yard Goats.
Harrison Bader made his organization debut on Sunday, acting as the DH for the Patriots in his first action since late-June with the Cardinals. Bader was 1-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored; he flew out in the first, walked in the third, rapped an RBI single, stole second, and later scored in the fourth, then fouled out in the fifth before being lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth.
On the mound, it wasn’t the start the Patriots wanted – top prospect Will Warren and Shawn Semple were tagged for eight runs in three innings – but the combo of Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton, and Miguel Castro pitched a near-perfect middle three innings, allowing just one walk while striking out five.
Chapman came on for the fourth and struck out the side around a walk to Daniel Montano, but did allow Montano to steal both second and third bases. He threw 10 of 16 pitches for strikes, and got all three Ks swinging.
Britton then came on for the fifth and got a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts, both swinging, and a groundout. Eight of Britton’s 14 pitches were strikes.
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Castro then came on for his first appearance since going on the IL on July 16 and pitched a 1-2-3 sixth on seven pitches, getting two groundouts and a foul out and throwing four of seven pitches for strikes.
While it was the first rehab game for Chapman, Castro and Bader, the Yankees are hopeful the latter will be able to join the team on the next homestand and the pitchers won’t be far behind. Britton has now made five rehab outings totaling 4 1/3 innings, and will likely have a few more before rejoining the Yankees as he finishes his recovery from elbow surgery last September.
The team did announce this week that because of a schedule that has off days Monday and Thursday, the Yankees will have Luis Severino make one more rehab outing on Tuesday before rejoining the team.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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