Yankees’ Rodón to get injection for ‘chronic’ back pain; Judge rehabbing

Last updated: 2023/05/05 at 11:56 PM

BigP Published May 5, 2023

The back pain that has kept New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón sidelined is “chronic,” and there is no timetable for his return, he told reporters Friday. To help remedy the situation, Rodón is slated to get a cortisone injection for his ailing mid-back “as soon as possible,” with one tentatively scheduled for next week.

Rodón, who signed a $162 million, six-year contract with the Yankees in December of 2022, started the season on the injured list with a now-healed left forearm strain. The back issue popped up during his forearm rehab program. The former Chicago White Sox and San Francisco Giants hurler has yet to pitch a regular-season game in a Yankee uniform.

“Definitely optimistic,” Rodón said before the Yankees’ game against the Tampa Bay Rays. “We’ve got various opinions, and they all seem to settle on the same thing, so I think that’s the route that us as a group want to go.”

Rodón is just one of many key Yankees players currently on the injured list, a group that includes 2022 American League MVP and newly minted team captain Aaron Judge.

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Judge worked out at the team’s spring training complex Friday in another step in his comeback from a right hip strain. Boone said Judge, who’s eligible to come off the 10-day injured list Monday, hit indoors, ran, threw and did defensive drills at the Yankees’ nearby Tampa facility. He’s set for another workout Saturday, and Boone is hopeful that Judge will return early next week.

Third baseman Josh Donaldson, out since April 6 with a strained right hamstring, took batting practice with Judge, while right-hander Luis Severino, who has been sidelined by a right lat strain, pitched in a minor league intrasquad game at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. He is expected to pitch next for either Double-A Somerset or Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Yankees currently sit at 17-15, checking in at last place in an extremely competitive AL East.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.