Aaron Boone said on Monday Luis Severino came out of his first rehab start fine.
Severino threw 33 pitches in one inning of work on Sunday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and then a dozen more in the bullpen to get in more work.
“He said he felt good,” Boone said of Severino, who was back in the Bronx on Monday. “Normal post [start] soreness. He flashed some good things, but it’s kind of like his first spring training game.”
Severino has been out all season after first dealing with rotator cuff inflammation in March and then suffering a significant lat strain while coming back from the shoulder injury.
The Yankees hope the right-hander is able to return this month and perhaps join the rotation before the postseason, especially after not landing any pitching help before the trade deadline.
Severino struck out a pair and hit the mid-90s with his fastball for Scranton, but gave up two runs on three hits — including a home run.
According to Boone, the Yankees plan on having Severino start again with SWB on Friday now that they are in the minor-league playoffs.
“We hope this is another really good step for him where the next time out, we get him up to three innings and go from there,” the manager said.
Edwin Encarnacion is expected to be back with the Yankees on Tuesday. He told reporters, including The Times-Tribune, he was heading back to New York after playing his second rehab game with SWB on Monday.
Encarnacion has been out since suffering a fractured right wrist when he was hit by a pitch on Aug. 3 against the Red Sox. He went 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts on Monday, and Boone had indicated he could return to the Yankees during the series against Texas.
He’s hit nine home runs in 162 plate appearances since joining the Yankees in June in a trade from Seattle.
The Yankees traded another piece of the haul they acquired from Cleveland in the Andrew Miller trade from 2016: They sent right-hander J.P. Feyereisen to the Brewers in exchange for 16-year-old infielder Brenny Escanio and international signing bonus pool money. Escanio signed with Milwaukee in July.
Feyereisen, 26, pitched well for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season, but never got to the majors with the Yankees’ stacked bullpen.
Justus Sheffield, another piece of the Miller deal, was shipped to Seattle in the offseason for James Paxton. That leaves Clint Frazier and right-hander Ben Heller, who is pitching well at SWB after recovering from Tommy John surgery, as the remaining pieces from the trade.
The trade announced Monday is the second minor-league deal the Yankees have made in recent days in which they have picked up international signing bonus pool money after shipping first baseman Ryan McBroom from SWB to Kansas City on Saturday.
The Yankees used nearly all of their allotment of international signing bonus pool money when they signed outfielder Jasson Dominguez in July.
Both trades were allowed after the July 31 trade deadline because none of the players involved were on any 40-man rosters.
CC Sabathia said it was too soon to know if the draining, cortisone shot and lubricant injection done on his surgically repaired right knee on Saturday had worked, so his future remains uncertain in the final weeks of his stated last season.
Boone still hopes to get the left-hander back on the mound, but doesn’t believe Sabathia has anything left to prove.
“I look at it in the day-to-day right now,’’ Boone said. “[I want] to get him right and be an option again and see how he does. As far as getting him back out, CC’s legacy is set, whatever happens.’’
Chace Numata, a catcher who spent last season in the Yankees’ minor league system, died Monday from injuries sustained during an accident. He was with the Tigers’ Double-A affiliate in Erie this year after splitting 2018 with Class-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton.
“The Yankees are saddened to learn of the sudden passing of former Yankee Chace Numata,’’ the team said in a statement. “Chace was beloved by his teammates and coaches throughout our system. We offer condolences to the Numata family.”