The Yankees are potentially on the verge of a HUGE reinforcement for their bullpen.
Prior to Tuesday’s Subway Series finale, skipper Aaron Boone announced that Zack Britton will begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday with Class-A Tampa, his first action in 370 days.
Britton last pitched in a game last August 19, and has been out since, undergoing Tommy John surgery last September 9. He had pledged to return at some point in 2022, and even if the Yankees use his entire 30-day rehab clock, no setbacks means Britton would return sometime in September.
The 36-year-old left-hander is in the final year of his deal, this year a $14 million team option the Yankees exercised at the end of 2020, so he will be pitching in a pennant race in a contract year.
Related
The Yankees are out of fresh arms on the 40-man roster, as Scott Effross’ departure to the IL Monday (and the team’s subsequent call-up of Clarke Schmidt) leaves starters Deivi Garcia and Yoendrys Gomez as the Yankees’ only healthy pitchers on the 40-man.
Clay Holmes is on track to return next Monday when the Yankees start a series in Anaheim, however, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported recently that the team had considered righty Greg Weissert, who is having a strong season at Triple-A, as a call-up before they promoted Luke Bard instead.
The Yankees have a pretty spectacular bullpen group on the injured list right now, as beyond Britton and Holmes, they are without Chad Green and Michael King for the season and also have Effross, Albert Abreu, and Miguel Castro on the I.L. – not to mention righty Stephen Ridings, who has been out all season with a right shoulder impingement.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
Listen live to WFAN via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Smart Speaker
Follow WFAN on Social Media:
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch