The New York Yankees are entering spring training relatively healthy, with DJ LeMahieu fending off a toe injury that should not be a problem to start the year. LeMahieu did miss the end of the 2022 campaign, including the playoffs, which was detrimental to the Yankees’ success. However, he should be ready to go, having worked diligently down in Tampa to rehabilitate this winter.
The Yankees haven’t added much support to the bullpen, but expect to elevate Greg Weissert into a more prominent role and find some good young talent to help balance things out this upcoming season. The Bombers’ bullpen was one of the best in baseball last year, and if they can maintain their health, they should put together another strong 2023 performance.
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However, the team has a few pitchers rehabilitating from injury and could land on the IL to start the season.
Effross is a lock for the Yankees’ injured list as he underwent Tommy John in October and will likely miss the entire 2023 campaign. Gil had the same surgery but in May, which means he’ll likely be out until midseason. The situation with Montas is a bit less clear, as he’s dealing with shoulder inflammation that is expected to keep him out for the first month of the season. Unless he suffers some sort of setback, he probably won’t be placed on the 60-day IL right away.
Via MLB Trade Rumors.
The Yankees will get Montas and Gil back this year:
Of course, Effross will likely miss the entire campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery at the end of the 2022 season. Effross pitched just 12.2 innings with the Yankees, posting a 2.13 ERA, 8.53 strikeouts per nine, and a 41.2% ground ball rate. The Yankees hoped to have him as a prominent piece to their bullpen this year, but they will have to wait until 2024 to get his full value.
Gil, on the other hand, is a flamethrower, touching triple digits on occasion and averaging out at 97 mph with his fastball. He threw under 100 pitches this past season before undergoing Tommy John surgery himself, but he is a promising young player at 24 years old that has tremendous attributes.
His fastball spin ranks in the 90th percentile, and his fastball velocity in the 88th percentile. He should return at the midway point this upcoming year and provide the Yankees with some support down the stretch.
Aside from Effross and Gil likely heading to the IL, the Yankees are still up in the air about Frankie Montas. Montas suffered from shoulder inflammation at the end of the 2022 season. He pitched 144.1 innings last year, the second most in his career after recording 187 in 2021.
After putting together a dominant 104.2 inning sample size with Oakland, enjoying a 3.18 ERA, his numbers plummeted with the Yankees. Across 39.2 innings, Montas posted a 6.35 ERA, seeing a drop off in strikeouts and an increase in home runs allowed.
Ultimately, the Bombers have high hopes for Montas once he returns from injury, but he’s still expected to miss about a month of the regular season.