The New York Yankees made a crucial trade with the Minnesota Twins during the offseason: they shipped catcher Gary Sanchez and third baseman Gio Urshela to the twin cities in exchange for infielders Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt.
IKF and Donaldson have been very good for the Yankees this season, but Rortvedt hasn’t taken the field yet. He sustained an oblique injury in spring training, and during the rehab, he sustained another injury in his knee.
“He’s dealing with a knee issue right now,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the weekend series against the Chicago White Sox. “We’re kind of trying to get our hands wrapped around that. He caught the other day and the knee was kind of catching on him a little bit. So we got to see what we have there.”
The Yankees will have more information soon
According to NJ Advance Media, Boone said that it’s possible that Rortvedt could need surgery on the knee. The catcher was able to play just two games in the minors before his rehab assignment was halted. The skipper said that Rortvedt was expected to visit with team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad this week.
As of Monday morning, the Yankees hadn’t specified which knee is the one giving Rortvedt problems, but if he has surgery, he could be sidelined for a while.
“It’s something he’s dealt with in the past,” Boone said. ” We’ll see. It could be some kind of surgical procedure that he may have to get. But we’ll see.”
Rortvedt, 24, made his MLB debut last week with the Twins, and hit .169/.229/.281 with three home runs in 98 plate appearances. He had a horrible 40 wRC+, but he had a history of sustained above-average offensive performance in the minor leagues. Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka have been splitting catching duties for the Yankees.