New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon is finally ready to throw again. According to YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits, the lefty will play catch on Thursday. It’s his first time picking up a baseball since the team placed him on the injured list last Friday with elbow inflammation.
Rodon had been battling this elbow issue on and off for a few weeks, per The New York Post. The recovery never really stuck, and things got worse before the team decided to shut him down. He had an MRI on Thursday that confirmed the inflammation, but here’s the good part: his UCL is still intact. Rodon called that a pretty big exhale before he went on the IL.
The 33-year-old is set to get a platelet-rich plasma injection and will be shut down for at least a few days, maybe a week, before he starts ramping back up. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the plan is to let the injection do its thing, then build back from there.
Boone on Rodon’s recovery timeline
“I really feel like Carlos was throwing the ball well and doing some really good things,” Boone said. “Hopefully this is something that gets cleaned up and gets him in a better place so that he can return for the stretch drive and be even more of a factor for us.”
The Yankees are sitting pretty at 50-42, first in the AL East as of Thursday’s game against the Rays. But they need Rodon healthy for the second half, especially with the division race tightening. So far this season, Rodon has a 3.30 ERA with 52 strikeouts and a 4-2 record across nine starts. That’s solid, but the injury has been a nagging problem all year.
Rodon’s velocity and command have been a little inconsistent, and the elbow stuff explains a lot of that. The Yankees have been careful with him, but at some point they need him back and throwing like the frontline starter they signed him to be.
For now, it’s a waiting game. Play catch Thursday, then the injection, then a few days off. The team hasn’t set a target date for his return, but Boone’s comments suggest they’re hoping for sometime before September. That would put Rodon in line for a late-August return, assuming everything goes well.
The Yankees rotation has held up without him for the most part, but Gerrit Cole can’t pitch every game. They need Rodon back and sharp if they’re going to make a real run. The good news is the UCL is fine. The bad news is this has been dragging on for weeks. Thursday’s catch session is a small step, but it’s a step.
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