Yankees reliever Zack Britton took a step toward returning to New York on Saturday afternoon, throwing a sim game to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders hitters at PNC Field.
Britton, who had surgery in March to remove a bone chip from his pitching elbow, threw 26 pitches (25 to hitters, then one more fastball before calling it a day) to RailRiders hitters Zack Zehner, Kellin Deglan and Cristian Perez. He struck out two, walked two and got a groundout.
Here’s one of Zack Britton’s strikeouts: a slider that gets Kellin Deglan looking. pic.twitter.com/L3vvwGL7mS
— Conor Foley (@RailRidersTT) May 15, 2021
His slider looked particularly good, and at one point Britton even told catcher Robinson Chirinos that the pitch felt better during the sim game than the sinker. He motioned he was still trying to find the right arm slot with the sinker. After he was done pitching, Britton got in his conditioning work in the outfield.
On Friday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the team plans for Britton to pitch “about five outings” on a minor league rehab assignment. On Saturday, Boone said Britton will rehab with Double-A Somerset.
Few more Zack Britton pitches from today’s sim game in Scranton. pic.twitter.com/UZAYfd77Ns
— Conor Foley (@RailRidersTT) May 15, 2021
Injury updates
RailRiders shortstop Kyle Holder jammed his knee into the ground sliding into second base during Wednesday’s game against Lehigh Valley and landed on the injured list Friday, but seems to have avoided any major issues.
“He doesn’t have any real structural damage,” RailRiders manager Doug Davis said. “There’s no tears of any kind. But he’s got a pretty significant bone bruise and he’s just sore. And it’s going to take him, you know, it’s gonna take him a few days to get back; probably a good week. So I think the smart thing at this time of the year is to just put him on the (IL), let him get his treatment, let him recover so that we make sure he’s 100% when he comes back.”
Holder is batting .174 (4 for 23) this season, his first at Triple-A.
Outfielder Greg Allen left Friday’s game mid at-bat for what Davis said was soreness in his side that Allen’s been trying to loosen up for a couple of days. Allen was not in the starting lineup for Saturday afternoon’s game and did not participate in pregame on-field activities.
Conor Foley goes beyond the box score with in-depth coverage of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. He has worked at The Times-Tribune since graduating from University of Scranton in 2011, and he has covered the RailRiders since 2017. Contact: cfoley@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9125; or @railridersTT
