Zack Britton, who had reconstructive surgery on his left elbow Wednesday, will likely miss most of the 2022 season. The surgery, which Aaron Boone said was “essentially,” Tommy John surgery, was to reconstruct and repair the ulnar collateral ligament and remove a bone chip from the elbow.
That type of surgery typically takes pitchers 12-13 months to return from. Starters usually need longer than relievers, but it still puts Britton’s optimistic return to September 2022.
“I don’t really want to speculate on that,” Boone said of the timeline. “I think there’s some optimism that he will be back towards the end of next year, but he just had the surgery. So, let’s see where we’re at, at least in the next 10 days or so.”
It has basically been a lost season for the 33-year-old Britton.
He battled COVID-19 before showing up to spring training and never felt like he got back on track. He threw a few bullpens in spring training, but never advanced to throwing in a game because of bone chips in his elbow.
He had surgery in March to remove those fragments and did not make his 2021 season debut until June. Britton pitched in five games before suffering a hamstring injury. He came back and made 17 more appearances before being shut down with elbow issues again.
The Yankees picked up the 2022 option on Britton’s contract last December. Due to a unique clause in his contract, he would have become a free agent this season if they had not committed to his $14 million salary for next season.
A DAY FOR DJ LEMAHIEU
DJ LeMahieu was not in the starting lineup for only the seventh time this season, his first day off since Aug. 19 and only his second since July 31.
“Probably something he’s needed for a little bit and just felt like, especially after a long one last night. Before I left, I kind of decided it was probably best to give him a day today.”
LeMahieu has had a frustrating season. He was arguably the team’s offensive MVP the last two seasons, winning the American League batting title in 2020, LeMahieu is hitting a respectable .266/.346/.362, but which is a considerable dropoff from the .327 and .364 he hit the past two seasons respectively.
CRUNCH TIME
With the Yankees grasping to their postseason hopes and injuries hitting their bullpen (Jonathan Loaisiga, Britton) and rotation (Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole) it’s all hands on deck whether they are struggling or not. That includes Andrew Heaney, who is now pitching out of the bullpen, and closer Aroldis Chapman, who could not get out of the ninth inning Wednesday night.
“The reality is, we have leaned on our bullpen, especially this week, where we’ve had some shorter outings where we’ve had to have some guys come out, the reality is we’ve got a number of guys down so other guys have to step up,” Boone said. “I feel like for Andrew, he’s been a little bit of a victim of some tough luck out there. But he’s gonna factor in whether it’s in some kind of a starting role here soon, or both, or even find himself in a high leverage spot. That’s the reality of it, and he’s certainly capable of that.”
Chapman is having the worst season of his career, allowing a career-high tying 20 earned runs. He gave up a rocket home run to Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. Wednesday night and Boone had to replace him with Wandy Peralta.
“I thought he threw some close pitches, but it’s been a challenge these last couple months, just sustaining that consistency within his delivery,” Boone said. “And that’s the biggest challenge moving forward. He’s working his tail off on it to find that consistency.”
