TAMPA — A bad back has sidelined another Yankee.
Cody Bellinger’s back “went out on him a little bit” Friday, manager Aaron Boone said, which kept him out of Saturday’s 5-1 win over the Blue Jays at Steinbrenner Field. Bellinger will not play in Sunday’s game against the Phillies, either, but the Yankees are hoping he could get back into action by Tuesday following Monday’s team off-day.
“He’ll probably be, I’m guessing, a couple days,” Boone said. “He was quite a bit better today. Trainers aren’t too concerned about it. And this is something that crops up on him every now and then, usually sometime in spring or early in the year.”
The 30-year-old Bellinger has played in three games so far this spring, the most recent one Thursday.
The veteran outfielder missed a pair of games last April due to the same back issue, but it proved to be a minor deal then, which the Yankees are hoping is also the case this time around.
An inflamed back forced Cam Schlittler to be slowed down earlier in camp, but the right-hander has since resumed his ramp-up and is expected to throw another live batting practice Sunday.
The plan is for Giancarlo Stanton to make his spring debut on Tuesday when the Yankees host Panama at Steinbrenner Field. As has become customary, the veteran DH has been slow-played into games in an attempt to keep him healthy over the long haul.
And while Stanton has consistently maintained that the pain from his tennis elbow in both arms is never going away, he has continued to get his work in early in camp, including taking ground balls in right field on Saturday morning.
A day after Gerrit Cole faced hitters for the second time in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, Brian Cashman joined the chorus of voices who have gushed about how everything has gone to this point.
“There’s twists and turns to rehab — you have good days, you have bad days — it feels like he’s had nothing but good days, which is fantastic,” Cashman said. “He had Tommy John in a little bit of an older part of your career and you don’t know how age is going to play an impact. Even if everything goes perfect, sometimes the velocity’s not there after they come back. But right now, it looks good.”
Amed Rosario was a late scratch from Saturday’s lineup due to WBC travel. He was going to get only one at-bat in the game before having to fly out, so the Yankees opted to have him take it in live batting practice on a backfield instead. … Ryan Yarbrough was sick Friday, so his next outing has been pushed back after starting a game last Monday.