Elmer Rodríguez said he is starting tomorrow vs. the Mets. Ryan Weathers had been the scheduled starter. #Yankees
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The Yankees will turn to Elmer Rodriguez for a couple starts in the wake of the Max Fried elbow injury.
The New York Yankees will be without left-hander Max Fried for the foreseeable future. The club officially placed Fried on the 15-day injured list and called up prospect Elmer Rodriguez from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
With the roster move, the Yankees revealed their rotation plan while they wait for the All-Star left-hander to return. Rodriguez told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch he will start the series finale against the New York Mets on May 17.
Elmer Rodríguez said he is starting tomorrow vs. the Mets. Ryan Weathers had been the scheduled starter. #Yankees
Hoch notes that left-hander Ryan Weathers was the originally scheduled starter for that game. However, it seems likely that Weathers will be pushed back a day and start against the Toronto Blue Jays on May 18.
Fried suffered a bone bruise in his left elbow in his start against the Baltimore Orioles. Imaging showed no structural damage to the ulnar collateral ligament. Hoch reports that the left-hander is in a “no throw mode” until the bruise heals, which may take weeks.
With Rodriguez up, the Yankees will first turn to him to fill Fried’s rotation spot. The right-hander currently ranks as the organization’s top pitching prospect and No. 2 overall prospect on MLB Pipeline.
The club hopes for better results in his second stint in the rotation. In Rodriguez’s first two major league starts, he’s surrendered five runs in 8.2 innings with five strikeouts and eight walks.
The right-hander climbed up the system last season, pitching to a 2.58 ERA across 27 appearances (26 starts) between High-A and Triple-A. He was promoted for his MLB debut on April 29 against the Texas Rangers.
Another potential option the Yankees could have turned to was fellow right-hander Brendan Beck. However, with Beck unavailable to pitch until May 19 at the earliest, the club decided to bring up Rodriguez instead.
The Yankees have been without Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon for much of the season. Despite two of their top arms being unavailable, the rotation has held up. Much of that is due to the strong work from Fried, Weathers, and the young arms in the rotation.
Will Warren and Cam Schlittler have been excellent for the club this season. Schlittler is off to a historical start and on a short list of favorites to win the American League Cy Young Award. The right-hander boasts a 1.35 ERA in 10 starts.
Fortunately for the Yankees, reinforcements could be coming soon. Yankees manager Aaron Boone confirmed that Cole will make two more rehab starts in Triple-A before being activated from the injured list.
Boone said they’ll try to get him up to the mid-80s in pitch count in his next rehab start. Then they want to do it again before bringing Cole back into the rotation.
The right-hander is on the 15-day injured list, necessitating just an active roster move, as he finishes his rehab from Tommy John surgery in April 2024. This timeline gives Rodriguez a likely one to two-start audition before Cole returns.
The Yankees currently sit at 28-17 and are in an excellent spot concerning the American League postseason race. They’re only two games back of the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL East division lead. With a fully healthy rotation, they’ll aim for the division title.
Michael McDermott Michael McDermott is a writer at Heavy Sports covering the Arizona Diamondbacks and Major League Baseball. Michael has 10 years experience writing about the D-backs and their farm system for AZ Snake Pit, Burn City Sports, and Diamondbacks On SI. More about Michael McDermott
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