ATLANTA — Zack Britton is hoping to hear that he can pitch again this year. The veteran reliever, however, is not expecting to get that news when he visits with Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday, or from any other elbow specialist.
“The advice that I’ve gotten is that probably wouldn’t be the smartest thing going forward,” Britton said before Tuesday’s game against the Braves at Truist Park. “But, maybe somebody will tell me otherwise.”
The Yankees left-hander is likely going to be shut down for the rest of this season with the hope of avoiding elbow surgery and being able to come back healthy for next season.
“It’s not like I blew it out on the mound so that’s the best thing. Everything’s still attached,” Britton said when asked if he was afraid he would have to have Tommy John surgery. “It’s just a matter of the bone chip removal. Obviously I added some stress on some parts of my arm. So you know in hindsight, obviously, I’m kicking myself for doing that, but I lost all that weight and things kind of expose themselves. It’s been a rough year.
“So now I’m trying to figure it out and take my time with what’s the best thing for me going forward,” Britton said, adding he’s been discussing his options with Yankees GM Brian Cashman. “I’m still here next year. Obviously, I am talking with Cash about what’s the best thing for me to be the best version of myself for this team next year.”
The lefty set-up man was placed on the injured list with what the Yankees announced as a left elbow strain. Britton said Tuesday that it does involve his ulnar collateral ligament. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that one of the options could be surgery, but Britton said that elbow reconstruction has not yet been specifically recommended.
“Nothing’s quite clear. I gotta get some more information before I kind of have a clear option,” Britton said. “Everything’s just kind of spitballing on what the doctors think is best. So I’m waiting to get all the opinions before we even decide on leaning towards one way or the other.”
Britton said that he has been dealing with the issues throughout the season after having had surgery to remove bone chips in March. He thought the feeling was him dealing with normal feeling coming back from what is a pretty routine surgery for pitchers.
“I had never had an arm issue until I decided to have the bone chips removed so I’ve kind of been kicking myself. I feel like I brought this on myself when I didn’t need to,” Britton said. “Maybe if I just took my time with the COVID, got my weight back up. Now obviously where maybe I wish I could have done it a little differently. And it’s impacted my season from a performance standpoint. Maybe I have some clarity now as to why my performance is so bad, with the elbow sprain like pitching through that, when I thought it was just part of like the normal surgery but it really wasn’t.”
In 22 appearances, Britton has allowed 12 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings pitched. He’s blown two saves, blown another lead and took a loss this year. The Yankees picked up the option on the 33-year old’s contract for the 2022 season last winter, or he would have been a free agent going into this season.
“I’m under contract for next year and I don’t want to deal with this stuff, the same stuff I was dealing with this year and the performance and stuff. I want to be, you know, what I’ve been in the past here and obviously in Baltimore throwing well and being an asset to the team going forward,” Britton said. “So I’m going to try to figure out what I need to do to get to that level again.”
Kluber close
Corey Kluber, who has been out with a shoulder strain since May 26, was making his third minor league rehab start Tuesday night and closing in on his return to the big league rotation.
“We’ll see. I want to get through today and kind of see where we’re at and make sure what’s the next best step for him and for us,” Boone said.
German back on track
Domingo German, who has been on the injured list with shoulder inflammation since Aug. 1, resumed throwing on Tuesday.
“Everything went well there. I think he is set for a bullpen sometime this weekend,” Boone said. “And then if that goes well, he could be close from that standpoint.”
Close to returning to the big league roster, but it sounds like in a different role. Boone said they are considering putting him in the bullpen.
“We’ll see what our needs are. I mean right now, we’ve got, obviously, five starters we just talked about. Luis (Gil), Corey Kluber is getting ready to be back in the mix,” Boone said, referring to sending Gil back to the minors despite making three big league starts without being scored on. “So, good problems to have but things we’ll have to sort through and kind of see what’s best for everyone and for us moving forward.”
