The New York Yankees were just dealt some frustrating news on the injury front.
The New York Yankees are anticipating a couple of major additions to their starting rotation over the first couple of months of the 2026 MLB campaign, as both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon are making their way back from respective surgeries.
Cole underwent Tommy John surgery last March, and Rodon had a procedure to clean out debris from his elbow after the 2025 season concluded.
While both pitchers had been making terrific progress, one of them just hit a bit of a bump in the road: Rodon.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone has revealed that Rodon experienced some tightness in his hamstring while running on Monday, and it could ultimately push back his rehab start that was supposed to take place this weekend.
"I don’t know if it’s going to slow him at all, but it could be something in the days [ahead]," Boone told reporters. "We’ll see what we have there. … He was scheduled in a few days for whatever in Somerset. We’ll see if that gets delayed at all."
The silver lining is that this had nothing to do with Rodon's recovery from surgery. The injury isn't arm-related, which is definitely a relief.
But the frustrating thing is that Rodon had to get injured at all.
New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon. Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images.Hamstrings are large muscles that can take a long time to heal, so chances are, this will delay Rodon's return to the rotation.
New York was hoping for the left-hander to make his 2026 debut in late April or early May, but there is no question that this new development could complicate things.
Rodon was brilliant last season, logging a 3.09 ERA while allowing 132 hits and racking up 203 strikeouts over 195.1 innings of work. He had an issue with the long ball early in the campaign, but he rectified that as the year progressed.
The 33-year-old's elbow became an issue late last season, so much so that he could not even hold his arm straight. He even needed help buttoning his shirt.
Fortunately, it wasn't anything serious, and Rodon even threw 50 pitches in live batting practice this past Sunday. So in terms of his arm, everything appears to be just fine.
That's why this new injury news isn't exactly alarming, but it's definitely irritating.
Hopefully, this ends up being nothing but a blip on the radar and Rodon is able to resume his normal schedule.
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