The New York Yankees are among the hottest teams in baseball. They are fresh off sweeping the Philadelphia Phillies and will now begin a crucial series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Winning the installment would go a long way in positioning them for a serious run at the AL East title, something that was far-fetched a few weeks ago.
Fortunately for them, they are also getting some good news on the injury front. As of Wednesday night, the Yankees have 17 players on the injured list, but better days are definitely ahead.
Right-hander Corey Kluber, on the shelf since May, is scheduled to throw off the mound on Friday before the Yankees-Red Sox game. Kluber played catch again on the field prior to Wednesday’s game and is still not particularly close to returning, but the team feels he can be an important contributor in September.
Additionally, the Yankees are about to get back one of their high-leverage relievers back in a few days. Jonathan Loaisiga may be off the COVID IL and pitch this weekend.
The Yankees badly need Loaisiga back
The righty had to quarantine in Houston. He threw a successful bullpen on Wednesday.
“We’ll see how that goes and make a decision as far as do we think he needs another one?†manager Aaron Boone said according to NJ Advance Media. “Or does it put him in play potentially this weekend in Boston? We’ll be really excited to get Lo back. He’s been one of the best relievers in the game this year.â€
Loaisiga has a 7-3 record and 2.21 ERA over 36 games with 46 punchouts in 47 innings.
The rest of the COVID-19 list group, including Aaron Judge and Gio Urshela, shouldn’t take much longer to be activated, and Luke Voit’s knee is apparently responding better than the Yankees though.
“He’s probably still a couple days away from full baseball activities where he’s getting back to hitting and all that, but I know the off day (on Monday) he started to feel really good and then (Tuesday) was a real good day for him. It’s encouraging to see him out there upping that workload,†Boone said.