Zack Britton's bone chip sets off Yankees' spring injury alarm again

Zack Britton leaves after being removed during the seventh inning in Game 5 of the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays, on Oct. 9, 2020, in San Diego. Credit: AP/Gregory Bull
LAKELAND, Fla. — Zack Britton. MRI. Elbow.
Three things the Yankees never want to string together in the same sentence. But in what’s become a rite of spring the past few years around Steinbrenner Field, manager Aaron Boone reluctantly did just that during Tuesday morning’s Zoom call, then later the same afternoon revealed the extent of the damage.
Up to that point, given their March history, the Yankees had been relatively lucky, with only rotation hopeful Clarke Schmidt needing to be shut down with a non-surgical elbow issue. But the dark clouds that follow them this time of year have shown up again, and Britton -- unlike Schmidt -- is a significant piece to the championship puzzle.
Fortunately, Britton was not a worst-case scenario, but bad enough that he’ll return to New York this week to have a bone chip removed from his left elbow. So forget about Opening Day. The target to beat now is the All-Star break.
This type of surgery usually requires six weeks to heal, then another six weeks of buildup to rejoin the team. That means the Yankees are likely to be without Britton’s services for a minimum of three months, and potentially longer, depending on how the rehab process goes. Boone didn’t attempt to give a timeline for Britton’s return after the Yankees’ 6-5 loss to the Tigers as the team will wait to see what team orthopedist Christopher Ahmad discovers during the procedure itself.
"We’ll have more in the coming day or two," Boone said.
In reality, the Yankees dodged a bullet. Britton doesn’t need Tommy John surgery, which often is the case when an elbow issue suddenly appears out of nowhere. That would have knocked out Britton for most of his remaining contract, as the Yankees just agreed in November to activate the remaining $27 million on his complicated extension/option that runs through the 2022 season.
Britton was being brought along slowly this spring due to a previously undisclosed bout with COVID-19 back in December, a case severe enough that he dropped considerable weight. And once Britton returned to the mound Sunday, an otherwise normal bullpen session raised red flags when he reported the elbow discomfort later that night and into Monday.
While aches and pains can be part of getting in shape for a 30-something reliever, going for an MRI and seeing doctors is well beyond an ice wrap and popping a few Advils. The Yankees didn’t even reveal Britton’s COVID-19 diagnosis until the New York Post first reported it over the weekend, and Boone took a few unrelated questions Tuesday before casually dropping the elbow thing at the end of a more general one about the bullpen as a whole.
When the Yankees bring up an injury, however minor it may sound initially, the mere mention tends to set off alarm bells. They don’t have a glowing track record when it comes to handling recent medical issues, and these problems have snowballed in the not-so-distant past.
Just for a refresher, it was only a year ago at this time that the Yankees lost three players to injuries that were unresolved from the end of the 2019 season. Luis Severino wound up requiring TJ surgery despite a winter’s worth of flickering elbow discomfort. James Paxton had a disc repaired in early February after complaining of back issues the previous September. Aaron Judge somehow made it through the entire offseason without a broken rib being discovered and his unimpeded winter regimen prevented it from healing.
That list doesn’t even include Giancarlo Stanton’s calf strain -- suffered during routine defensive drills with the outfielders. But that’s more bad luck than bad medicine. Like the others, Stanton would have missed Opening Day if it hadn’t been postponed until late July by the pandemic.
On paper, the 2021 Yankees are the AL favorite to reach the World Series -- as usual -- and the primary threat to dethrone the Dodgers, who remain the Vegas pick to repeat. But getting the names on that paper to Opening Day, or even surviving large chunks of the regular season, has been problematic in recent years.
And Britton was one casualty we didn’t see coming. Aside from an Achilles tendon repair, which cost him the first 2 1/2 months of the 2018 season before his eventual trade to the Yankees, Britton has been a reliable fixture of an elite bullpen. He’s also a clubhouse leader, and one of the most irreplaceable players on the roster.
Then again, the Yankees have been forced to find substitutes for just about everyone at some point or another, in scrambling to patch unanticipated holes. For them, it’s been less a question of avoiding injuries than keeping their fingers crossed for best-case scenarios.
Britton’s diagnosis was a setback, no doubt. But after the way Tuesday began, with talk of MRIs and a hurting elbow, it’s got to be a relief for the Yankees to know he should return before too long. Now they’ll just be holding their breath hoping to avoid the next one.