The mysterious lat setback has hit the Yankees again.
A Tuesday morning MRI exam revealed Dellin Betances has a low-grade lat strain, manager Aaron Boone said, and the reliever will be shut down “for a few weeks.” Betances has not pitched at all this season due to a right shoulder impingement, but he was in Tampa working his way back before experiencing soreness that prompted his latest medical checkup.
Betances is the second Yankees pitcher this season to be rehabbing a shoulder injury in Tampa, only to be delayed by a lat strain. Luis Severino’s case was worse, going from rotator cuff inflammation to a Grade 2 lat strain that will keep him out until at least July.
“I believe [it’s a] coincidence,” Boone said after the Yankees’ 12-5 win over the Mets. “But I don’t know. We’ve had things happen this year to guys where it’s been a lot, obviously, but we’ve dealt with it. I’m certainly not the person to ask about when exactly that happened.”
Boone said he guessed the lat strain occurred when Betances went to Tampa, but he couldn’t be sure. General manager Brian Cashman had been trying to answer the same question for Severino since he suffered his setback in April.
“[We’re] always reviewing [the] process and procedures to ascertain if anything needs changing or adjusting,” Cashman wrote in a text message.
In addition to Betances and Severino, Giancarlo Stanton is a third Yankee who was nearing a return from injury before suffering a setback. Stanton was originally nursing a biceps strain before treating a shoulder strain and then having his rehab assignment cut short by a calf strain.
“Kind of hurt for the individuals,” Boone said. “I know how hard Dellin’s worked to get back.”
It’s the latest blow on Betances’ long road back to pinstripes after suffering his initial injury in spring training. In April, another MRI revealed a preexisting bone spur in the back of his shoulder as the source of irritation, and he received a cortisone injection.
After getting shut down for three more weeks, Betances had been slowly building back up and threw to hitters for the first time last Wednesday. He felt soreness, which Boone originally described as “normal,” until it kept Betances from throwing his scheduled bullpen session Friday.
A deep Yankees bullpen has carried on without him, entering Tuesday with an ERA of 3.92, but Betances’ healthy presence would add yet another valuable, back-end weapon.
“Obviously frustrating, especially because the shoulder’s good and he was feeling good and now a little slowdown,” Boone said. “As I [told] him before I walked in here, he’s still going to play a big role for us this year, just a little later than we thought.”
— Additional reporting by Dan Martin
