Pressure on Patriots rehab assignments as Yankees struggle

Baseball, Featured, New York Yankees, Professional, Somerset Patriots

June 21, 2023

Bridgewater, NJ -- Tuesday was the New York Yankees' first official outing for their newly-signed Ace, Carlos Rodón. His rehab outing was stellar. Rodón pitched three innings as he felt sharp after the first and after the third inning he felt like found himself. Rodon talked about how his goal was to execute pitches and getting in the groove after walking the first batter.

When asked what got him into the groove his response, "I decided to throw strikes". His fastball topped at 94-95 and showed a good break on his slider. The final line for Rodón's first rehab appearance: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 42 pitches (27 strikes). Since signing with the Yankees this offseason, he has yet to pitch one game at Yankee Stadium due to injury. He talked about the toughest part of being injured.

“Just not being able to be out there with the boys and compete and try to win games with them [was the hardest part of his rehab],” Rodón said. “This is pretty much half the season, it’s been tough, I wanted to be out there pitching.” - Carlos Rodón

Carlos Rodón hopes his Yankees debut can be in front of the home fans!

Interview after 1st rehab start @SOMPatriots pic.twitter.com/GsVinwaC94

— Dugout Station (@DugoutStation) June 21, 2023

Today, the Yankees were graced with the return of Harrison Bader from his MLB rehab. Bader completed his rehab assignment at Somerset, where he played three games and went 2-12. He was hitting the ball well and almost missed a home run in one instance. Tuesday was his first day back in the Bronx. The centerfielder or "Darth Bader" as the fans love to call him, always returns with positivity and electric energy in the clubhouse. On his return, he went 1 for 3, scoring one run and a stolen base. In his other at bats, he flew out to centerfield and grounded out to second base.

Bader. Back. pic.twitter.com/IlPuZXFG80

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 20, 2023

The Yankees are glad to have Bader back after being crushed with the news of Aaron Judge's injury. Judge will be out after making an immaculate catch at Dodger Stadium on June 3 when he ran into the wall in the outfield. Yankees are only banking 3.5 runs per game without Judge.

The team is 30-19 when Judge is in the lineup and 10-14 when he is out. The question all Yankee beat writers ask every day is when will Aaron Judge be back?

Brian Cashman: "I have no clue yet. I do know he’s getting better and he’s improving, thus the second PRP injection. Those are all encouraging signs, but we’re not in a position to speculate on a time frame yet.” as reported by Bryan Hoch.

"We're not gonna obviously do any trading to replace Judge, so ultimately, we've just got to wait for him to come back"

Brian Cashman talks about why he thinks the Yankees can withstand the absence of Aaron Judge: pic.twitter.com/geforQvF9Y

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) June 20, 2023

Finally, Ian Hamilton is also rehabbing at Somerset as he last pitched on 6/18. He is scheduled for one more rehab likely Thursday at Somerset, then joining the Yankees on their road trip in Texas as they face the Rangers. Ian Hamilton's line at Double-A Somerset: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (winning pitcher)

Rehabbing #Yankees RHP Ian Hamilton earned the win today with a scoreless inning and two strikeouts. @elijfishman caught up with him following the game. #RepBX pic.twitter.com/zfIFpqbTLZ

— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) June 18, 2023