The Yankees got Trent Grisham and Ryan McMahon back, but Carlos Rodón’s elbow just turned a good-news day into another headache.
The Yankees finally got some bodies back.
Trent Grisham is active. Ryan McMahon is active. That helps. Grisham gives them a real outfield piece again, and McMahon gets back into the infield after his own injury concern.
But of course, because this team can never just have a normal roster day, Carlos Rodón lands on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation, retroactive to June 30.
Oswaldo Cabrera gets optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room.
Fine. Roster math is roster math.
But the Rodón part is the problem.
Carlos Rodón said he’s dealing with “heavy inflammation,” but nothing more than that. He hopes to be back soon and mentioned a possible no-throw period of only one week, but nothing is set in stone. #Yankees
The walks were still there. The stressful innings were still there. Sometimes he made you sit there asking, “How the heck is this inning still going?”
But he was giving the Yankees real starts.
Through nine outings, Rodón was 4-2 with a 3.30 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and 52 strikeouts over 46.1 innings. He had not allowed more than three runs in any start.
That is useful baseball.
Not ace stuff every night. Not some Cy Young fantasy. Just a veteran lefty giving you innings and keeping the game under control.
The Elbow Makes This Different
This is the same left elbow that needed surgery in October to remove loose bodies and shave down a bone spur.
So when the Yankees say inflammation, fans are not going to sit here clapping like everything is cute.
Nope.
Rodón is 33. He has arm history. He already missed the start of the season because of the surgery recovery. Now the elbow is barking again after he finally started building momentum.
The Yankees Can Patch It, But Still
Yes, they have other starters. Gerrit Cole is healthy. They can shift the rotation. They can call somebody up.
But losing Rodón right now hurts.
Grisham and McMahon returning is good. At least somebody showed up on the positive side of the transaction page.
But Rodón going down keeps the same ugly question alive.
How long can this pitching staff keep taking hits before the Yankees have to stop acting like everything is under control?
Born in Manhattan, New York, Felix Pantaleon is a Dominican-American digital content creator and the founder of NYYNEWS, one of the first and longest-running independent New York Yankees content creator platforms, active since 2005.
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