Pitchers and catchers report in six days but already several Yankees are in Tampa preparing for the upcoming season. Bryan Hoch has a list. Among them is concussion-free Clint Frazer (video). “It’s been a long road. I’m just happy to be here and ready to go out there and make up for the time that I’ve lost,” he said to Mark Didtler. Here are injury updates on two prominent Yankees.
Gregorius set to begin throwing program
Sir Didi Gregorius is set to begin a throwing program this week, he told Ron Blum. Aaron Boone said the same to Coley Harvey. There is still no firm timetable for his return and Gregorius confirmed he will not return early as a DH. “I want to be back completely. I just want to make sure everything’s all right before I go out there. I haven’t even thought about hitting before everything,” he said.
Gregorius had his Tommy John surgery on October 17th and he resumed baseball activities last month. Specifically, he is taking one-handed swings and fielding grounders. The typical elbow reconstruction throwing program lasts several weeks. They start out at very short distances and gradually stretch it out. Gregorius joked he’ll be ready to return in April but that’s not happening. So far so good with his rehab though. The throwing program is a significant step.
Sanchez will be brought along slowly
Following offseason shoulder surgery, the Yankees will ease Gary Sanchez into things during exhibition play, Boone told Blum. “We may slow play him a little bit the first week of Grapefruit League games,” the skipper said. The Yankees did the same thing with Aaron Judge last year, remember. He had offseason shoulder surgery and sat out the first five Grapefruit League games. The Yankees didn’t want to push him too hard early in camp.
“I’ll be ready for Spring Training,” Sanchez said to Greg Joyce. He has started hitting in the cage, and Bryan Hoch says Gary will catch James Paxton’s bullpen session tomorrow, so it seems his recovery is going well. Sanchez had surgery on his left shoulder, so his throwing should be fine. The left shoulder is his front shoulder when hitting though, the power shoulder, and that’s not something you mess around with. Take it slow with Sanchez now because missing a few games in February and March is preferable to missing games at any point from April through September.