Back in 2019, the New York Yankees set a major league record by putting 30 players on the injured list. The Bombers have been facing injury issues for years, and they came to a pinnacle. General manager Brian Cashman proceeded to make sweeping changes to their strength and conditioning staff the following off-season trying to solve a problem that had been minimizing the team’s impact.
The majority of their sluggers had been spending far too much time on the injury list, but to start the 2022 season, the Yankees have been mostly healthy, finally overcoming one of the more polarizing issues they faced over the last decade.
“I think we’re on higher ground,” Aaron Boone said regarding keeping players healthy, per the NY Post. “We’re always trying to work to get a little better, a little smarter on how we do things to keep guys healthy. So yeah, I feel like we’re in a way better place.”
Entering the season, there was a legitimate concern regarding starting pitching reliability. Depending on Luis Severino and Jameson Taillon to feature regularly was always optimistic, but so far, so good for a team that has only used five starting pitchers this season.
Even Taillon was surprised at how the Yankees approached his momentum and early-season progress. He figured there would be an innings limit, but the Yankees have simply been relying on what they’re seeing on the mound and in the training room.
“I came in thinking about innings limits,” Taillon said, “and that was shot down and the [Yankees] are: ‘We’re gonna see how everybody is responding. We’re gonna consistently measure you in the training room and now you know if your external rotation is off 10 percent, maybe that is a time to back off a bit.’”
Last season, Taillon suffered shoulder issues and torn ligaments in his ankle, but he seems to be on track to make a significant impact this year without any injury concerns; knock on wood. In 2021, Jameson recorded a 4.30 ERA over 144 innings, the most he’d pitched since 2018. So far this year, Taillon hosts a 3.26 ERA over 19.1 innings, showcasing solid velocity early in the season.
Even Severino has started to brush off the injury concerns, earning a 3.32 ERA over 19 innings, hitting triple digits with his fastball. Clearly, the Yankees are doing something behind the scenes to help their players continue improving, and hopefully, it increases their longevity.