Carlos Rodon’s back still isn’t right, so there’s no timetable for the left-hander to make his Yankees debut after he signed a six-year, $162 million deal in the offseason.
“He can’t get over the hump with the back, so we’ll have other people look at it,” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday before the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Guardians in The Bronx. “He’s continuing to throw through all this to get to that place we need to get him to, and that hasn’t happened.”
Boone said several times Rodon isn’t feeling any pain in his back and his shoulder and elbow are healthy, but the back issue is affecting his delivery and “preventing him from getting to positions he needs to get to.”
Rodon has a long injury history. He has dealt with shoulder and elbow issues, and was placed on the injured list this spring with a left forearm strain.
The back issue then flared up, delaying Rodon’s return.
“He’s just not moving how he needs to,” Boone said. “He’s a pretty dynamic, electric guy. That’s the hard thing. We have to make sure we’re getting as many eyes on it as we can to determine the best course of action.”
Boone said the Yankees are weighing having Rodon stop throwing, though he threw as recently as Monday.
“We want to get him right and get the Carlos Rodon we know we’re going to get,” Boone said. “We’re confident we’ll get there. … More than anything, he’s frustrated. He wants to be here. He wants to be on the mound.”
With Rodon and Luis Severino (right lat strain) still on the IL, the Yankees’ rotation depth will continue to be tested. Pitching coach Matt Blake said Clarke Schmidt, slated to start Wednesday, is capable of starting despite his lack of results this season.
“He’s got good enough stuff to be a starter in this league,” Blake said. “It would be easier to put him in the pen, but he has the capability of being a starter, and we’re limited with depth options. He’s got to execute at a high level.”
Schmidt has been ineffective against lefty hitters, allowing an OPS of .811 this season.
“We try to make sure he’s missing in good areas in tougher parts of the lineup, especially with lefties,” Blake said. “He has to hone in on his command. We feel good about most of his outings, and then he goes through a spell that results in a home run or two.”
Schmidt has allowed a career-worst 2.5 homers per nine innings so far and also has an unsightly WHIP of 1.680. But the Yankees remain encouraged by his improved strikeout rate and, as Blake said, don’t have many other options. Rodon and Severino are sidelined,
Frankie Montas is out for at least most of the year, and there’s not much help coming from the minors after the Yankees traded away much of their pitching depth over the past two seasons.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s role is going to “evolve,” according to Boone, with the return of Harrison Bader from a strained oblique.
Kiner-Falefa, who didn’t play Tuesday, will get less time in center field, but Boone said he could still see time in left, as well as “spelling” teammates in the infield or being used as a pinch hitter against a lefty or as a pinch runner.
Ben Rortvedt, rehabbing from left shoulder aneurysm surgery, had his rehab assignment moved from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and catching prospect Austin Wells, rehabbing from a rib injury, was moved from Low-A Tampa to Somerset.