Return dates for Zack Britton, DJ LeMahieu still unclear
Yankees relief pitcher Zack Britton walks to the dugout during the eighth inning against the Phillies in an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on July 21, 2021. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Yankees had players coming, players going and players in limbo as they faced the Pirates at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday night.
Officially, there were only two roster moves: Luis Severino was activated off the 60-day injured list to start against Pittsburgh and Miguel Andujar was optioned (again) to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Aaron Hicks left Yankee Stadium about four hours before game time because he was “under the weather,” said manager Aaron Boone, who has also been under the weather for days with a cough and cold.
Injured outfielder Andrew Benintendi is also sick, Boone said. There was no indication from the club that the illnesses are COVID-19 related.
Reliever Scott Effross, who has been on the IL since Aug. 22 with a right shoulder strain, is expected to be activated Thursday, Boone said.
Then there are the curious cases of Zack Britton and DJ LeMahieu.
Britton, the veteran lefthander who had Tommy John surgery more than a year ago, finished his minor-league rehab assignment with a four-pitch outing on Tuesday.
But Britton was not activated, and even though he said he feels ready, Boone said there is no current date for Britton to be added to the roster.
“We’re just in a little bit of a pitching crunch right now,” Boone said. “We’ve just go to see where we are from a coverage standpoint day-to-day.”
LeMahieu, who Boone said optimistically on Tuesday was “really ramping up” from the sore toe that has marred his late season, sounded less optimistic on Wednesday.
“It’s just a tricky situation,” Boone said. “It’s like, when do you dive all in on letting it rip because does that ultimately start the setbacks? What’s the timeline? What’s the best way to go about this? I don’t really have that answer, and eventually the rubber’s going to meet the road and we’re going to find out.”
Weissert sent down
The Yankees optioned Bay Shore's Greg Weissert to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Wednesday's game. Weissert was 3-0 with a 6.75 ERA in 10 appearances.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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