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Try it freeFORT MYERS, Fla. — Scott Effross has had a long road back from Tommy John and back surgeries, but was feeling good and healthy this spring.
That came to a screeching halt on Tuesday with just one pitch.
Almost immediately, the Yankees reliever was reaching for the back of his left leg, and seconds later, walking off the mound with a trainer after suffering a hamstring injury on the only pitch of his outing against the Twins at Hammond Stadium.
“Just kind of grabbed on him there,” manager Aaron Boone said after the 5-4 loss. “Hopefully it’s not something that holds him down too long because he’s done a lot of good work to get to this point. We’ll see.”
Effross will undergo testing to determine the severity of the hamstring injury and how long he might be out.
The side-armer had surgery on his UCL in October 2022, just a few months after the Yankees acquired him from the Cubs, and then underwent a microdiscectomy of the lumbar spine in December 2023.
Scott Effross throws batting practice at Yankees spring training on Feb. 16, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg / New York PostEffross made it back to the big leagues last September for only three games, but then had a normal offseason this winter for the first time since 2021-2022.
He and the Yankees had been encouraged by how he was pitching early in camp, but that will now be put on hold.
Everson Pereira and ex-Met Dominic Smith both homered in the loss while Ben Rice went 2-for-3 with a single.
Pereira, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery as a DH and is expected to play the field by mid-March, could factor into the Yankees’ plans at some point this season.
Yankees Everson Pereira is greeted in the dugout after his solo home run in the second inning of a spring training baseball game against the Minnesota Twins. APSmith, meanwhile, faces more of an uphill battle because he is not on the 40-man roster, but the lefty swinger started in left field Tuesday after playing first base on Saturday.
“Whether it’s left field, first base, off the bench, batboy, whatever, I’m just happy to be here,” Smith said.
Carlos Carrasco started Tuesday’s game and tossed two innings while allowing a solo home run.
His fastball sat 92-94 mph, a tick up from where it was last season (averaging 91.7 mph).
“I definitely feel like he can help us,” Boone said.
Will Warren will make his spring debut on Wednesday, starting the exhibition against the Cardinals, while Carlos Rodón will make his second start on Thursday against the Phillies.
