The New York Yankees have had their fair share of struggles this season, and one category they’ve been absolutely decimated in is the starting pitching rotation. Over the past few months, they’ve seen Corey Kluber go down, Luis Severino suffer a setback in his rehabilitation from Tommy John surgery, and Domingo German pick up an injury as well. In the meantime, skipper Aaron Boone has relied on Nestor Cortes, Luis Gil and traded for former Los Angeles Angels starter Andrew Heaney.
However, Boone is preparing to make more changes to the rotation, as he recently deactivated Heaney as the team plans for the return of Kluber from a lengthy spell on the injured list, fighting his way back through rehabilitation assignments.
Kluber was positive regarding his progress but did strike a bit of cautiousness into the hearts of fans as he described the difference between executing at a high level in the MLB to throwing simulated games.
“The health side of it, with the way I’ve felt out there and bouncing back, it puts your mind at ease that the injury isn’t an issue anymore,’’ Kluber said. “Then it’s going out there and executing pitches to different parts of the strike zone.â€
Boone is excited to get Kluber back into the rotation, as he pitched a no-hitter shortly before picking up a shoulder injury. He hosts a 3.04 ERA on the season over 10 games, recording a 9.28 strikeouts per nine rate and 46.4% ground ball right, the highest since his 2014 season.
“He gets a lot of movement on his pitches,’’ Boone said of what makes Kluber effective. “That’s been there. Now it’s just getting up against major league competition and getting his workload back up. Hopefully he can really impact us down the stretch.â€
With September right around the corner, the Yankees will be excited to get back several starting pitchers before the postseason. Severino and German are still a few weeks away, but Kluber is looking to pick up where he left off against the Angels on Monday night.