NEW YORK — The Yankees liked what saw Friday afternoon from pitcher Domingo German, who took the next step toward returning from his shoulder inflammation by throwing a bullpen. The morning after, manager Aaron Boone really liked what he heard from the rehabbing righty.
“Felt good,” the skipper said in his morning presser. “So that’s a good sign.”
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The same goes for fellow Dominican righty Luis Severino long-tossing pain-free in right-center field on Friday, but this was just more baby steps tacked on to his long, frustrating and ongoing journey back from February 2020 Tommy John surgery.
The bottom line here is the Yankees are running out of time on German and Severino, both of whom would be back now if not for rehabbing setbacks.
The last of the sand in the hourglass probably already has dropped on either being handed a rotation spot with the Yankees’ season down to 27 games, even if everything goes to plan from here on out.
Both pitchers returning as relievers is a possibility provided, of course, there are no more setbacks.
“I think there’s time,” Boone said Saturday before the Yankees’ 4-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. “It might be cutting it close in some cases. Sevy’s doing well, but not quite ready to get on the mound yet. With Domingo … he’s obviously closer. They can impact us whether it’s out of the bullpen in shorter stints, whether it’s giving us some bulk. I don’t know how much we’ll be able to get them built up, but we’ll see.”
The Yankees expected to have Severino back by early July, but he strained a groin during his second rehab start on June 12 and didn’t get back on a mound for a few weeks. The two-time All-Star again worked his way to getting close to returning by mid-August, but after making two Double-A rehab starts he was scratched for a third with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre due to shoulder discomfort.
Severino is back throwing again, but he’s still probably a few weeks minimum of being Major League ready, thus a best-case return might be late September.
As for German, who has been on the injured list since Aug. 1, he’s scheduled to throw another bullpen on Monday. If that goes well, he’ll probably throw to hitters in a live BP or simulated game later in the week. After that, he could pitch in a rehab game during the final week of the minor-league regular season, or perhaps be activated to be a reliever.
“We’ve got a month left to the season,” Boone said. “So instead of speculating on it, we’ll see how their progression goes and see at what point they’re able to help us and in what role.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
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