TAMPA — The Yankees’ $162 million offseason splurge to their rotation is on hold.
Carlos Rodon will miss the start of the season with a mild strain of the brachioradialis muscle in his left forearm, general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday.
Cashman added that Rodon’s UCL is intact — he had Tommy John surgery in 2019 — but the left-hander will be shut down from throwing for seven to 10 days and begin the season on the injured list.
Rodon began feeling the discomfort after throwing a slider in the lead-up to his Grapefruit League debut Sunday and mentioned it to the Yankees’ training staff.
Cashman said Rodon was responding well to the physical testing, though, so he pitched as planned against the Braves and got knocked around for five runs and six hits across two-plus innings.
But Rodon did not recover as well from that outing, which led the Yankees to send him for an MRI on Wednesday that revealed the strain.
Cashman said that “in a perfect world,” Rodon would return to the team “some time in April.”
But that is dependent on how he responds to building back up after the shutdown.
“He’s worth the wait,” Cashman said. “All we want — obviously he’s the real deal when he’s capable of providing it and not forcing something.
“Because we know how good he is when he’s right.”
Rodon’s situation was just part of a brutal day at Yankees camp as Cashman announced that relievers Tommy Kahnle (biceps tendinitis) and Lou Trivino (mild elbow ligament sprain) will also start the season on the IL.
Center fielder Harrison Bader (left oblique discomfort) could also join them.
Rodon had a lengthy injury history before staying mostly healthy for his breakout seasons in 2021 and 2022, which led to the Yankees giving him a six-year, $162 million contract in December.
The 30-year-old said he pitched through the same forearm issue in May and September of last season without much trouble.
But because of where the Yankees are on the calendar, with three weeks left in spring training, they are not taking any chances.
“I’m not here to pitch until the All-Star break,” Rodon said. “I’m here to pitch well into October and whenever this team needs me. … If it’s Oct. 5 or the ALDS, I’m taking the ball and going to pitch.”
Cashman expressed optimism that the Yankees caught this early because Rodon spoke up.
“If it was ‘Don’t say anything, try to push through,’ this could have been much worse,” Cashman said.
Because of Frankie Montas’ shoulder surgery last month, the Yankees had been holding a competition for their fifth-starter spot between Domingo German and Clarke Schmidt.
But now, with Rodon set to open the season on the IL, both German and Schmidt are in position to make the rotation out of camp.
“I’m hoping this goes by fairly quickly,” Rodon said. “I can’t put a number on any of this. As far as how I feel, I feel better than I did after I threw against Atlanta, for sure. But as you know, some of these things take time. I’m hoping it goes by quick, but you never know what happens down the road.”
Rodon’s fastball velocity — which averaged 95.5 mph last season — sat between 91-94 mph during his start against the Braves on Sunday. At the time, the Yankees said that was where his velocity was at this point during the last normal spring training in 2021, so they wanted him to build up properly without trying to overthrow.
“I guess the intensity jump — throwing a little harder sliders and just making that jump in intensity, it set me back a little ways,” Rodon said.
Now, the Yankees rotation that looked like it could be one of the game’s best after Rodon’s signing has another dent in it. Montas is already out until at least August, but the Yankees hope Rodon’s absence will be much shorter.
“It’s a bummer,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But also sitting around waiting [Wednesday] night and getting the news today, it’s also a sigh of relief. I don’t think it’s going to be a long-term thing. Sucks for him and for us that he’s not gonna start the season with us, but hopefully it’s not too much after that. Hopefully the timing of it is better now than at another point.”