The New York Yankees have been plagued by injury more than any other team in baseball. The Yankees entered Sunday with 13 players on the mend and having already lost 447 days to injury on the year -- the next-closest team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, haven't even lost 400 days. General manager Brian Cashman shared some injury-related news, good and bad, on Sunday while talking with CBS Sports HQ MLB insider Jim Bowden on his MLB Network Radio show.
Let's recap what Cashman disclosed, beginning with the bad news: Luis Severino, the Yankees ace who has been sidelined all season due to an inflamed rotator cuff, is no closer to returning to the staff. Rather, Severino isn't expected to rejoin the Yankees until the second half of the season:
Cashman: "We won’t see Severino until after the all star break"
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) May 5, 2019
On the bright side, the Yankees should be getting a number of contributors back in the coming weeks, beginning with outfielder Clint Frazier on Monday or Tuesday. After that, Aaron Hicks shouldn't be too far behind, as he'll soon head off for a rehab assignment. Giancarlo Stanton and Didi Gregorius are each making progress as well, with James Paxton -- the latest Yankee to hit the shelf -- expected to miss no more than three weeks:
Brian Cashman told us he expects Frazier to be reinstated from IL on Mon or Tues: Paxton out 3 weeks max; Stanton return to BP this week; Hicks in ext spring will start rehab in Tampa this week…could be activated next weekend; Gregorius will complete throwing program this week
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowdenGM) May 5, 2019
Of course, the Yankees will still be without Aaron Judge, Dellin Betances, and others for the foreseeable future. But, despite all the injuries, New York has to be pleased to find itself with an 18-14 record and just 2 1/2 games behind the division-leading Tampa Bay Rays. If the Yankees can get and stay hearty and hale -- and who knows how likely that is at this point -- then they still have a real opportunity to meet preseason expectations and win the division.
