The Yankees all but ended Zack Britton’s season by moving him to the 60-day injured list on Monday, and now we know why: the lefty will undergo surgery to remove a bone chip from his left elbow, his second such surgery this year.
“I’m kind of hopeful it’s maybe what they think it is, and not something long-term, and he can start his rehab and be back on a mound sometime early in the year,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday. “Zack has worked his tail off and gone through a lot this year, so to have that news, you always hurt for the player. Hopefully everything goes well next week.”
The surgery will be performed on Sept. 8 by Dr. Neil ElAttrache, who examined Britton on Monday, and while ElAttrache will also check the lefty’s UCL to make sure that Tommy John surgery isn’t on the table, it seems the bone chip is the primary concern.
“I spent some time with him talking about the options,” Britton said Tuesday. “Definitely have a bone chip in there that needs to come out, and we’re hopeful that there isn’t anything more that’s too invasive. There’s other options (besides Tommy John), so he’ll make a determination if it needs to be reconstructed or repaired, but we’re all hopeful it’s nothing or something minimal.”
Either way, it’s the final blow in an all but lost season for Britton, who has dealt with illness and now three injuries in a truncated season.
"I’ve been playing a long time and have been fortunate not to have injuries, so it’s disappointing to end this way,” Britton said. "I just view it as kind of another chapter of my career where I get an opportunity to use these months that I have to make myself better as I get back with the team. As you get older, you always look for new ways to improve, and I’ll have some time to do that and hopefully be better for that when I come back."
The lefty finished with a 5.89 ERA in 18 1/3 innings this season, one which never really got going. A bad bout with COVID over the winter delayed him in spring training, and he had his first surgery to remove bone chips in March. He finally debuted on June 12, but was on the IL with a strained hamstring from June 26 to July 15, and has been on the IL again retroactive to August 20 with a sprained left elbow he’s hopeful is a minor fix.
“I’m confident it will go will, but no one will ever give you 100 percent confidence before they go in, because MRIs don’t always tell the whole story,” Britton said. “The UCL isn’t the issue here, the biggest issue is that bone chip, so we’re hopeful that if anything, all we’ll have to do is fortify it.”
That sprain is the result of a bone chip Britton and Dr. Christopher Ahmad, who did the initial surgery, knew was a possibility, as there was another bone spur found in Britton’s left elbow that had the potential to eventually break off.
“Dr. Ahmad felt like removing it at the time would do more harm than good, and he wanted to protect my UCL. There was a chance this would break off during my initial rehab, and fortunately, it didn’t until now,” Britton said. “You can never predict the way a surgery will work out, and the symptoms and issues I’m having are a reflection of that. It’s frustrating, but there’s nothing I can do now but look forward and try to come back as the best version of myself.”
Britton won’t have a prognosis on how long or how intense his recovery will be, or what the next steps are, until after the surgery, when Dr. ElAttrache has a full understanding of what needs to be done.
He hopes to remain with the team as much as possible before having surgery – that plan will be figured out before the Yankees leave Anaheim after Wednesday’s game – but he does want to be around the team after the surgery as they head down the playoff stretch.
“It’s not about one individual; my job now is to be a good teammate and support these guys,” the lefty said. “We have a chance to do something special, and I want to be a part of that any way I can.”
And, a good diagnosis on the UCL would be great for the Yankees; Britton is under contract for one more year after the Yankees exercised his $14 million option for 2022, and Tommy John surgery would likely wipe out his remaining time under contract.
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