Yankees lay out plans for Carlos Rodón ahead of first rehab start

NEW YORK — It sounds like Carlos Rodón will rejoin the Yankees’ rotation soon.

The southpaw, out with elbow inflammation since June 30, is scheduled to make his first rehab start at Triple-A on Saturday. The plan is for Rodón to throw close to 50 pitches for the RailRiders.

From there, Rodón may or may not make one more rehab start, manager Aaron Boone said Friday. Either way, the Yankees will activate the pitcher before he’s fully built up and “definitely probably piggyback him” in his initial starts, Boone said.

With a number of off days on the upcoming schedule and five healthy starters already in their rotation, the Yankees should be able to make that strategy work without taxing their bullpen. The long-held assumption has been that the Bombers will move Ryan Weathers or Will Warren to the pen anyway once Rodón returns, so either could be the piggyback pitcher while staying stretched out in this scenario.

Rodón, 33, went 4-2 with a 3.30 ERA over nine starts before going back on the IL.

He initially hoped to miss minimal time due to the inflammation, but he’s been out over a month now. He said that multiple rounds of shots — he’s gotten PRP and orthovisc injections — are to blame for the prolonged timeline.

“I always try to get back as quick as I can,” Rodón said Friday. “I feel like anybody in this situation would. I wouldn’t say anything delayed me. We just had a plan with the injections, and when you’re scheduling injections and trying to throw in between them, it kind of makes it harder to figure out when you can throw, when you can’t. Because when you get an injection, you might need a day off. Obviously, you take the first day off. You might need a couple more days.

So obviously, I would love to be pitching for our team right now. But right now, it’s just building pitch count and getting in games, and that’s it.”

Indexed and credited by AIPROPX. Originating outlet: Yahoo Sports. Open at source →