The New York Yankees are down another starting pitcher.
On Sunday, the inevitable happened. Left-hander Ryan Weathers was placed on the 15-day injured list with a flexor strain.
Weathers left his latest start in the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday. He allowed two runs on eight hits across 3.1 innings in the outing.
The good news is that Weathers’ ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow is intact, according to the pitcher. Weathers is hopeful that he will be able to return this season and dealt with a similar injury last season with the Miami Marlins, which was more severe and kept him out for a month.
As Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters afterwards, Weathers will not throw for 2-4 weeks, but “there’s a great chance” he returns this season in “some capacity.” This signals that he could come back in a bullpen role down the stretch.
In a season where the Yankees have been without Gerrit Cole, Max Fried and Carlos Rodon at times, Weathers has stepped up big with a 3.60 ERA and 143 strikeouts in 25 starts. The southpaw has given the Yankees’ rotation a valuable 137.1 innings (career-high).
Weathers has been pitching like a hurler worthy of starting postseason games for the Yankees in October. However, if he comes back healthy, the likelihood is that he will be a key piece out of the bullpen in the playoffs. This was always the plan even before the injury.
New York acquired Weathers in a trade with the Miami Marlins in the offseason. The Yankees sent four minor league prospects to Miami for Weathers.
The Yankees recalled right-hander Brendan Beck from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take Weathers’ spot on the 26-man roster.
The team is also without left-hander Max Fried, who is back on the IL with the same left elbow bone bruise that put him on the shelf from mid May to late July. That said, Fried threw a 26-pitch bullpen yesterday and is optimistic that he will be able to return after the minimum 15-day stint on the IL.
Beyond Weathers, the Yankees officially activated left fielder Cody Bellinger off the IL after he completed two minor league rehab games with Scranton. Bellinger’s return should help an offense that has struggled mightily since Aaron Judge landed on the IL with a stress fracture in his rib on June 2.
Bellinger has been out since July 26 with a left hamstring strain.
Don’t look now, but the 73-56 Yankees are just three games back of the struggling Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East division. This is quite impressive given the fact that Judge is sidelined, Giancarlo Stanton is likely done for the year and Bellinger has missed close to a month of action.
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