ATLANTA — Carlos Rodon has one more hurdle to clear before potentially rejoining the Yankees’ rotation next week.
The $162 million left-hander, on the injured list with a hamstring strain, will throw a simulated game Wednesday in Tampa with “a pretty good workload,” according to manager Aaron Boone.
If Rodon comes out of that session well, he would be in line to be activated off the IL next week against the Nationals — potentially as early as Tuesday’s series opener, which is the first day he is eligible to come off the IL.
Saturday in Miami, Rodon threw an extended bullpen session that simulated two innings — around 40 pitches. He tried to fight going on the IL in the first place, but his current schedule has him expected to miss just around the minimum time.
Rodon has had a rough first season as a Yankee, because of multiple injuries and underperformance. But getting him back for the final month-plus of the season could be valuable in not only giving a hurting rotation some relief but also trying to get Rodon back on track entering the offseason.
The Yankees discussed adding a fresh bullpen arm ahead of Tuesday’s game, a night after Clarke Schmidt lasted just 2 ¹/₃ innings, but ultimately decided they did not need one.
Ian Hamilton (2 ²/₃ innings) and Albert Abreu (three innings) provided mop-up duty in relief of Schmidt to save the rest of the bullpen for Tuesday. There was the potential for another heavy bullpen day with the struggling Luis Severino starting, but the Yankees felt they were OK with six available relievers.
“Especially with the off day coming up on Thursday and not using most of our guys [Monday] night, being able to get an inning with everyone regardless,” Boone said. “We’ll obviously have to revisit that every day.”
Boone was hoping to stay away from Michael King if possible in order to keep him in play for Wednesday’s series finale, potentially as an opener ahead of Randy Vasquez. The Yankees recently decided they would try to stretch out King’s workload, but that was dependent on whether they would need him in shorter, high-leverage outings on a given day.
The Yankees could have used Thursday’s off day to rearrange their rotation heading into a series against the Red Sox. But instead it appears they will stay in line, meaning Jhony Brito is scheduled to pitch Friday (potentially behind an opener) with Gerrit Cole set to start Saturday.
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