Jonathan Roashga is one step closer to returning to the Yankees bullpen.
Roashga on Saturday began rehabilitation assignments with Single A Tampa and pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout on the 10th pitch as he continues his comeback from UCL surgery last April.
The right-hander is likely to need a significant portion of his 30-day rehabilitation clock to properly accumulate, but if the Yankees look like a pitcher who has been healthy in recent years, they are eagerly waiting for him to return.
“When Lo is healthy and in top condition, he’s a weapon,” manager Aaron Boone said earlier this week. “I think of it as getting another high-end, high-leverage, really good pitchers, and I feel like there are a lot of those guys right now.
Loáisiga, who re-signed the Yankees this offseason with a $5 million team option and a one-year, $5 million contract, has pitched 2.89 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 140¹/₃ innings over the past four seasons.
However, he has been dealing with multiple elbow and shoulder injuries during that stretch, so it’s been tough for him to stay healthy.
Besides Devin Williams, the Yankees bullpen was pitched heavily in the first month of the season, scoring an ERA of 2.63 if Williams removed his 11.25 ERA.
However, for groups that are heavy on changeups and splitters from the right side, the Roashga offers a different look than the one on the strong throw on the right side of the late 90s, when the sinker sits.
The pitch averaged 96 mph in his first rehab on Saturday.
“We don’t really have the right Velo that is more difficult than with sinkers. [fastball]Pitching coach Matt Blake said this week. It’s like we had little by little. Ian [Hamilton] Now a little of that guy, but Lo really owns the role. ”
Max Fried, who was scheduled to start the postponed Saturday game, will start Game 1 of Sunday’s Double Header (against Kevin Gaussman) before Clark Schmidt gets the ball for Game 2 (against Chris Bassitt).
Freed had a great outing with the Rays in Tampa last Sunday, and he appeared to carry no-hits in eight innings.
The left-hander dropped his ERA to five starts from 1.42, throwing 102 pitches on that outing.
“Everything people have said about him from afar, he’s a real deal,” Judge Aaron said. “To see it close up and see him come out here – especially when you miss a guy like Gerit Cole you can’t trade, you can fry and become that ace to go for us, it was fun to see.”
Yerry de Los Santos seems like a logical choice to serve as the 27th man in the Yankees in Sunday’s doubleheader.
Boone would have been Brent Headrick, who started the season by pitching well with the Yankees, except that he was just on the list of injured Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with an oblique injury.
On the 40-man roster, De Los Santos gave up one run in 8¹/₃ innings this season on Triple-A.
Lewis Gill (LAT Co.), which has been closed for more than seven weeks with shutdowns, is scheduled to commence its throwing program on Monday, Boone said.
The real-life Al Rookie of the Year was expected to start pitching first last week, but after the MRI exam, the Yankees decided to take care and make a mistake and give them another 10 days of rest.
