Looks like the Yankees won’t get a chance to see what Ben Rortvedt can do at the MLB level until at least the second half.
The team announced late Wednesday that Rortvedt underwent arthroscopic surgery for a partial meniscectomy – “a meniscus clean-up” – on his left knee Tuesday. The surgery, performed by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad, “went as expected,” but recovery time to begin playing in games is expected to be six to eight weeks.
The low end of that timeline is right around July 1, so considering Rortvedt didn’t have a real spring training and only played two rehab games, it’s unlikely to see him until the All-Star break.
Rortvedt was acquired in the deal with Minnesota that also brought Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Bronx, but he missed all of spring training and the first month of the season recovering from a right oblique strain he suffered over the winter.
The 23-year-old backstop began a rehab assignment with Low-A Tampa on May 7, but played just two games before being removed from the lineup, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone noted last week that the reason was “a knee issue” that “might require surgery.”
Indeed it did, and now, Rortvedt will be out for another two months or so.
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Rortvedt is noted as a strong defender, which has been the Yankees’ preference behind the plate this season, but they were also hopeful his bat would provide a spark as well. He has just a .169 average in 89 career MLB at-bats, but the Yankees entered Thursday with a .186/.242/.257 slash line from their catchers – Kyle Higashioka and Jose Trevino combining for just one home run and 11 RBI, with more strikeouts (22) than hits (21) – and their combined OPS+ is among the worst by position in MLB.
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