NEW YORK — Ryan Weathers landed on the injured list Sunday with a left forearm flexor strain, but the Yankees starter expressed optimism that the ailment won’t be season-ending.
Weathers exited Saturday’s loss to the Toronto Blue Jays after 3 1/3 innings and 72 pitches after he experienced discomfort in his throwing arm.
“It’s almost not even a Grade 1 strain,” Weathers said Sunday at Yankee Stadium. “Just a very low grade. More just irritated than anything.”
Medical imaging showed that Weathers’ ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and elbow are in good shape, the left-hander said.
Weathers was yet to meet with Yankees head physician Dr. Chris Ahmad when he spoke to the media, but manager Aaron Boone said Weathers would not throw for the next two to four weeks.
“I just knew something was off,” Weathers said of Saturday’s early exit. “Something just kind of didn’t feel right. I could have for sure kept pitching, no doubt. But it was like, is this stupid? Is this time to be a competitor or time to be smart?”
Weathers and Boone both expressed relief with the pitcher’s prognosis.
“Big picture, obviously really good news,” Boone said. “We’ll try to get this thing calmed down here and hopefully get him back in some capacity.”
Weathers is 5-8 with a 3.60 ERA and 143 strikeouts over a career-high 137 1/3 innings this season, his first with the Yankees.
Last year with the Miami Marlins, Weathers suffered a flexor strain late in spring training, which delayed his season debut until May 14. Weathers said that strain was more significant than the current one.
With five weeks remaining in the regular season, Boone acknowledged Weathers could come back as a reliever for the stretch run.
Even before the injury, the Yankees had envisioned moving a starter — likely Weathers or Will Warren — to the bullpen once their deep rotation is at full strength.
Max Fried returned to the IL last week for a bone bruise in his left elbow — his second such stint — but the Yankees remain hopeful their co-ace can be activated after the minimum 15 days.
To replace Weathers on the active roster, the Yankees recalled right-hander Brendan Beck from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Beck, 27, is a 9-2 with a 2.75 ERA in 22 starts at Triple-A this season.
Beck could serve as a short-term solution in the Yankees’ rotation, as could right-hander Elmer Rodríguez, who boasts a 1.69 ERA in three August starts at Triple-A and a 2.59 ERA in 19 starts there overall.
“He’s been doing a good job, even pitching deep into some games down there,” Boone said of Rodríguez, who owns a 4.76 ERA in four big league starts this year.
“Him and Brendan Beck have both had really strong Triple-A seasons as starters for us down there, so [they] have earned the opportunity, certainly, to be in the conversation. Hopefully, if they get an opportunity, they can be a part of us winning games.”
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