Yankees: Luis Severino pulls himself out of rehab assignment, more disappointing injury news

The New York Yankees are patiently waiting for more starting pitching support, with several players finding their way back from injury and the COVID-19 list.

The expectation is that Jordan Montgomery and Gerrit Cole will return to the team in the next few days, a Corey Kluber and Luis Severino are still a few weeks away from making a return to the majors. Severino, who hasnâ€™t pitched a meaningful game since 2019, suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery. The injury he picked up was completely irrelevant to his elbow, pulling a groin during a minor-league outing.

However, Severino is still dealing with issues, as he pulled himself from a rehab assignment on Saturday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

â€œHe just was down there warming up and didnâ€™t feel right and didnâ€™t feel like he was going to be able to go out there and pitch the way he wanted to, so he just stopped his warmups and told (manager of pitch development) Desi (Druschel) he just wasnâ€™t able to go out there and pitch tonight,â€ RailRiders manager Doug Davis said.

Severino is dealing with an unknown issue, but the expectation is that he will return to New York to get further testing. The problem doesnâ€™t seem to be too serious, but Severino has dealt with multiple injuries over the past few seasons, so taking extra precaution is a necessity.

The Yankees are desperate for more support in the starting rotation, and Severino failing to make a successful comeback could haunt them during the postseason. Nonetheless, thereâ€™s no guarantee he will ever return to the form he produced in 2017 when he hosted at 2.98 ERA and 10.71 strikeouts per nine. The days of him being a potentially elite force on the mound are behind him. Heâ€™s simply looking to salvage the remainder of his career in pinstripes.