Yankees reliever Zack Britton to have elbow surgery

//TAMPA, Fla. – The first "uh-oh" moment of what had been a relatively healthy spring training for the Yankees resulted in one of their standout pitchers being lost for a significant amount of time.

Aaron Boone, speaking Tuesday morning before his team’s 6-5 loss to the Tigers in Lakeland, said lefty reliever Zack Britton had been sent for an MRI Monday on his pitching elbow after experiencing "some soreness" after a bullpen session Sunday.

The Yankees revealed after the loss the Britton was scheduled to head back to New York Wednesday, where he "will undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone chip from his left elbow in the upcoming days."

The surgery is expected to be done by the team physician, Dr. Christopher Ahmad, at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

"As far as timetables and stuff like that, we’ll have more in the coming days," Boone said after the game.

What can be said with certainty is the 33-year-old Britton, who posted a 1.89 ERA in 20 games last season, won’t be a factor in the bullpen for a while. Though not a pitcher, obviously, Yankees third baseman Gio Urshela had a bone chip removed early last December in his throwing (right) elbow and only in the last couple of weeks has he said it feels 100 percent. Generally, the healing time for such a surgery is in the 4-6- week range. A throwing program, which could also be in the range of 4-6-weeks, would follow.

"I appreciate the support from everyone," Britton tweete We all have daily challenges we have to overcome in order to reach our goals. Just have to keep pushing ahead! I will get this taken care of during the upcoming week and be back as soon as I can."

It is the second pitching injury of note from camp. The first came Feb. 22, when Boone announced that righthander Clarke Schmidt, one of the club’s top pitching prospects who was anticipated to contend for the fifth starter job in camp, would be shut down for 3-4 weeks with a common extensor strain near his right elbow (he’s supposed to resume throwing soon).

"I would say it’s always concerning any time any of your players are going through tests because they’re not quite where we want them to be," Boone said before knowing Britton’s MRI results. "But that said, let’s find out where we’re at, what it says and what the days ahead mean now. Zack overall feels pretty good. He’s in good spirits about it, but let’s get the answers first."

Britton, set to make $13 million this season and $14 million next season after the Yankees picked up his player option for 2022 last winter, came into camp already slightly behind most of his fellow pitchers after an offseason bout with COVID-19, which caused him to shed far more pounds than he would have liked. Britton was throwing bullpens but had not yet faced hitters in live batting practice or simulated games as many of his fellow pitchers had been.

"Having COVID in the last couple of months, I think set him back a little bit in his in his buildup," Boone said before the game. "Just trying to kind of get his weight up. He’s actually been throwing pretty well early in spring. But after his bullpen the other day , which was successful, and he didn’t feel anything, it [the discomfort felt] was after the fact. Sunday evening he started to feel something, so just wanted to make sure we get some pictures of it, run through tests. He did all of that yesterday and they’ll kind of go through all of that today and see where we’re at."

The disclosure of Britton even going for an MRI set off alarm bells – and not without cause – among the fan base, which in recent years has grown used to the worst possible results when it comes to injuries. Many of them – though it wasn’t the case with Britton – have been initially downplayed only to have news of a stint on the injured list – or, worse, news of surgery – follow.

And so in the end, where the Yankees are at with Britton is a familiar place the last handful of seasons when it comes to injuries.

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.