TAMPA, Fla. – New York Yankees left-hander Zack Britton underwent surgery Monday to remove bone residue from his left elbow.
After the operation, the reliever may be out of action at least until May, and perhaps until the middle of the year. The team has not set a possible return date.
Yankees Medical Director Dr. Christopher Ahmad led the surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.
“I want to thank Dr. Ahmad and his team for their excellent work today,” Britton wrote on Twitter. “Excited to start the process of preparing to meet the guys.”
Cuban southpaw Aroldis Chapman is the Yankees’ closer, and manager Aaron Boone said he will mix his relievers in the final third of the game. Boone has said right-hander Chad Green, Darren O’Day, Nicaraguan Jonathan Loaisiga and left-hander Justin Wilson are considered options.
“I think it all comes down to the incision healing,” manager Aaron Boone said. “That will tell you when you can start letting go of your arm and start speeding up the process. So we really don’t want to set a deadline. “
Chapman is suspended for the first two games of the regular season for throwing a 101 mph fastball near Mike Brosseau’s head in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sept. 1.
Britton, 33, has gone to the All-Star Game twice and was 1-2 with a 1.89 ERA and eight saves in 20 appearances during the 2020 season cut short by the pandemic. He held the position of closer in the first three and a half weeks of the calendar, as Chapman recovered from COVID-19.
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