Elmer Rodríguez was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday and was set to start Sunday’s Subway Series finale at Citi Field, a day after Max Fried went on the 15-day injured list with a left elbow bone bruise. The Yankees also pushed Ryan Weathers to Monday against the Blue Jays in The Bronx and lined up Will Warren for Tuesday, while Gerrit Cole continued his comeback work with a rehab start in Scranton.
Rodríguez is back in the rotation mix after allowing five runs in 8 2/3 innings over two previous starts with the Yankees, and manager Aaron Boone said the right-hander “handled things well” in those outings. Boone added that Rodríguez had “run into some tough left-handed matchups” and was “struggling to get on time,” but said he had confidence the pitcher would settle in after a little more time with the club.
The move mattered on Saturday because Fried’s injury immediately changed the Yankees’ pitching map. The team said Dr. Neal ElAttrache reviewed Fried’s imaging and agreed with Dr. Chris Ahmad’s diagnosis that the left-hander’s ulnar collateral ligament was not impacted, easing fears that the problem was more serious than a bruise. Even so, the loss forced the Yankees to turn back to Rodríguez for a marquee game at Citi Field, where every inning is likely to feel amplified.
Cole’s night in the minors offered a second important sign for New York. Working back from Tommy John surgery, he allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings and threw 86 pitches for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Syracuse on Saturday night, touching 100 mph as he moved toward the next step in his return. Before Saturday, he had been scheduled to make one more rehab start before rejoining the Yankees, and the outing suggested that timetable remains intact.
The tension for New York is obvious. Fried’s injury is not considered a ligament problem, but it still strips the Yankees of a starter at the same moment Cole is not yet ready to take the ball in the majors. That leaves Rodríguez, who arrived from Triple-A and has already had his first taste of the big-league rotation, with another chance to hold down a spot while the Yankees try to keep their pitching plan from bending too far.
For Rodríguez, Sunday is more than a fill-in assignment. It is a return to a job he has been asked to do before, and for the Yankees it is the latest test of whether a pitcher with uneven early results can keep them upright until the rest of the rotation settles back into place.
