Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon will start the 2023 season on the injured list due to a left forearm muscle strain. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Rodon underwent an MRI on Wednesday that revealed a mild strain of the left brachioradialis, a superficial forearm muscle, similar to the injury he suffered last year while with the Giants. Said Cashman: “The finding was something, but not significant or serious Obviously, trying to pitch through stuff is not a good thing, especially this time of year. If this was in-season — pennant race, late in the game — he’s still probably up and running. He had this last May with the Giants, and he didn’t miss any time with it.”
Rodon underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019. Cashman said that Rodon will rest for 7-10 days, and that all imaging showed the left-hander’s ulnar collateral ligament was intact. Said Cashman: “You just have to prevent looking at the calendar and force-feeding it and speeding the process up because you feel the outside pressure of it’s a new organization, fan base, stuff like that. [Rodon] understands that. He’s a pro. But like anything else, it’s the human nature of, ‘I want to get out there and pitch. When I was dealing with him, he’s like, ‘I dealt with this in May, and it didn’t stop me.’ But it’s not May, it’s March, and we don’t want to play this into something different.”
Rodon said: “last year, it [the injury] popped up early in May, the first time I ever felt it in my forearm, the top of my forearm Worked with some people, did some treatments, luckily. I woke up, it was my fifth day getting ready to pitch … and I felt nothing. Arms can be so finicky, so you never know what route it’s going to take. In May I felt fine. I didn’t miss a start. It’s just kind of early to throw through things right now. … Like, if it’s Oct. 5 or it’s the ALDS, I’m taking the ball and going to pitch.” Rodon added that he “hoped it [his recovery] would go fairly quickly … But as you know, some of these things take time. “I’m hoping it goes by quick, but you know how injuries go — you never know what happens down the road.”
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