Carlos

Rodón

Boone wouldn’t fully commit to it happening, but it sounds like Rodón will make his return to New York’s rotation after missing six weeks at the outset of the year working his way back from offseason elbow surgery. The 33-year-old southpaw allowed six runs and threw 83 pitches in his final minor league rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night. It’s worth noting that rookie starter Elmer Rodríguez was also shipped back to the minors on Tuesday evening, clearing a rotation spot.

Rodríguez heads back to the minors to clear a rotation spot for Carlos Rodón (elbow) to return from the injured list this weekend. The Yankees will bring up some bullpen help until then. The 22-year-old pitching prospect walked four batters and allowed three runs over 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday in a no-decision against the Rangers. He figures to get another shot in New York at some point later this summer.

Rodón gave up seven hits, including a pair of home runs, and threw 83 pitches (49 strikes) in his likely final rehab outing. Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters earlier on Tuesday that the 33-year-old southpaw will make his next start in the majors if everything checks out fine afterwards from a physical standpoint. He’s in line to make his season debut against the Brewers on Sunday and should obviously be rostered in all fantasy formats.

The 33-year-old southpaw scattered five hits on the evening and did not walk a batter. He threw 75 pitches in the outing, 51 of those for strikes, while sitting 92-94 mph with his fastball and topping out at 95 mph. The expectation had been that Rodón would make one additional minor league rehab start before joining the Yankees’ rotation, though it’s possible his timeline gets pushed up given how dominant he was on Thursday.

Rodón was up to 65 pitches in his last rehab outing, so the thought was that the Yankees would let him throw one more time on Thursday and then potentially rejoin the rotation. It seems like he’ll make one more rehab start next week, probably on Tuesday the 5th or Wednesday the 6th, and then return to the Yankees the week of May 11th.

There was a chance that Rodón would be summoned to make his season debut later this week after throwing 65 pitches in his previous rehab start last Friday. The 33-year-old veteran southpaw, who is coming back from offseason elbow surgery, will get at least one additional tune-up outing to continue building up his pitch count and stamina before making his season debut in early May.

The results are insignificant as the more important variable is that Rodón built up his pitch count to 65 in his rehab debut. It’s possible the Yankees will have him make an additional tune-up start next week before bringing him back for his season debut. There should be some clarity on his status at some point later this weekend.

Rodón will need a couple rehab outings to build up his pitch count and stamina, but he appears on track to make it back to New York’s rotation at some point in May. The 33-year-old underwent offseason elbow surgery after finishing last year with a strong 3.09 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 203/73 K/BB ratio over a career-high 195 1/3 innings.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters he expects Rodón, who is scheduled to throw a 55-60 pitch live batting practice session on Saturday, back before fellow rehabbing starter Gerrit Cole (elbow), who made his first rehab start on Friday at Double-A Somerset. The 33-year-old southpaw is working his way back from offseason elbow surgery, in addition to a hamstring-related setback, and figures to be ready to make his season debut at some point in May.

Rodón should be ready to make his first rehab start at some point next week. The 33-year-old’s recovery from offseason elbow surgery has been slowed by a minor hamstring issue recently. He’s on pace to make his return to New York’s rotation at some point in May.