Carlos Rodon will make his second rehab start for Double-A Somerset on Sunday, according to manager Aaron Boone.
Rodon, following forearm and back injuries, made his organizational debut on Tuesday with Somerset. He totaled one hit, one earned run, one walk and five strikeouts over three innings of work and 42 pitches.
“He had good life on his heater, even though it’s still not huge velocity,” Boone said Wednesday. “I think he averaged around 92.5, is what I saw. Whereas you look at last year, he’s probably 94.5.
“Looked free and easy to me. He looked comfortable.”
Rodon said that he threw all of his pitches, and that his fastball ranged from 91-95 miles per hour.
“Almost there,” he said.
The Yankees have discussed Rodon only needing three rehab starts, though that is not a set-in-stone minimum. Boone didn’t want to set a date for his Yankees debut yet — “Let’s just get through Sunday first,” the manager said — but Rodon still likes the idea of a three-start assignment.
“I’d be all for it,” the southpaw said. “That’s something we’re gonna have to discuss, right? I don’t know. We’ll see where we’re at.”
Tuesday’s start paired Rodon with catching prospect Austin Wells, the Yankees’ second-ranked farmhand. Wells’ defense has been a topic of discussion throughout his young career, but Rodon had no issues throwing to him.
“Austin’s great. He received the ball well,” Rodon said. “That was our first real time working together, and he did a really nice job. He received the ball well, called good sequences.”
Rodon also got some more experience with the pitch clock after a limited spring training. That didn’t bother him either.
“If anything, I had to slow down because you gotta wait for the hitter to be ready,” he said. “So I was working too quick.”
DJ LeMahieu, as expected, wasn’t in the Yankees’ lineup for the second night in a row on Wednesday. The infielder has been scuffling at the plate and is hitting .232/.291/.388 with seven home runs, 23 RBI and an 87 wRC+ over 61 games.
“I can’t really relate to him because he’s never done anything but hit,” Boone said. “Like he can fall out of bed and hit a line drive. So I think [the struggles have] been frustrating for him and a little bit of a challenge for him.”
The Yankees have maintained that LeMahieu is healthy after battling a foot/toe injury last year, and Boone pointed out that LeMahieu hit well last season before getting hurt. The manager felt it would be unfair to lump LeMahieu’s post-injury numbers in 2022 with his current woes.
“He didn’t struggle at all last year until he got hurt,” Boone said. “In fact, the opposite. He was vintage DJ, banging, .400 on-base. His injury, where he tried to play through it for a few weeks, kind of took his numbers down to make it look like an ordinary season.”
The Yankees believe LeMahieu’s load and stride have been his problem lately. He’s been working to correct that in the cage and before games.
He could be seen hitting early on the field on Wednesday.
“He’s working through it,” Boone said. “I do believe he can get there to where he’s DJ.”
()