2020 Yankees Already Haunted By Injury Demons

ROBBINS NEST

By Lenn Robbins

Derek Jeter used to joke that there were ghosts in the old Yankee Stadium. Those apparitions apparently have found their way across the street. Only now they haunt the home team.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed Thursday that pitcher Luis Severino has been shut down due to right forearm soreness and a loose body in his elbow. Severino of course, missed almost all of last season with rotator cuff inflammation and a lat strain.

 Any pitcher that has had a loose body in his or her throwing elbow knows this can become problematic at any time.

This alarming development comes almost two weeks to the day that the Yankees announced James Paxton would miss three to four months after undergoing a microscopic lumbar discectomy to remove a cyst.

 Any pitcher that has had back pain knows this can become problematic at any time.

And let’s not forget that Domingo German, who exploded on the scene last season, is suspended until June 5^th for domestic violence offenses.

As we know, any man that has been found to be a domestic violence offender is capable – some would say prone – to committing such heinous acts again.

We are still more than a month away from opening day and the Yankees are already down two-fifths of their starting rotation (Severino and Paxton) and a valuable swing arm in German.

Never has spending $342 million on a free agent pitcher, Gerrit Cole, seemed like such a valuable signing. Paxton’s injury is more straightforward in terms of recovery than Severino but back injuries are always disconcerting. Severino, 26, is compiling a thick medical file.

Boone said Severino’s latest injury activated after last start of the 2019 season, which was Game 3 of the American League Championship Series. General manager Brian Cashman said that Severino twice flew from his home in the Dominican Republic to New York to undergo two MRI exams and one CT scan. None of tests revealed any sign of serious injury.

Severino received anti-inflammatories upon arriving at spring training. He began by throwing only fastballs and sliders, but when he started to integrate his changeup, the pain returned.

“It’s Sevy, and there’s this discomfort that’s been off and on that’s continued,” Boone told reporters at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “That’s certainly concerning. We’ll just have to see how this continues to declare itself.”

The Yankees set an MLB record last season by having 30 players make a combined 39 trips to the injured list. They overhauled the training staff after the season in the hopes of keeping players on the field.

It’s early but the Yankees seem to have picked up where they left off. And that’s downright scary.