It’s a step in the right direction for Domingo German and his return from injury.
The Yankees pitcher threw three innings of scoreless baseball in his first rehab assignment start for Single-A Tampa. German has been dealing with a right shoulder impingement since Spring Training.
German allowed just one hit in the outing, which came in the top of the third on a line drive by Chris Burke.
New York is unsure how they’ll utilize German once he does return, which could see him take a spot in the rotation or come out of the bullpen. A starter role could be in the cards for German, who made 18 starts for the Bombers last season and went 4-5 with a 4.58 ERA.
The Yankees have 30 days to put German back on the roster barring any setbacks.
Manager Aaron Boone said before New York’s game against Houston that German’s next start should be on Tuesday, but he wasn’t sure where it would be.
“I heard everything went well,” Boone said. “All his pitches, strike-throwing, no walks, no strikeouts, but I heard he had some swing and misses. But I haven’t gotten a full report or I haven’t watched it.”
The Yankees returned to the Bronx on Thursday for a four-game series with the Houston Astros and Right-hander Albert Abreu, who was claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Royals, was expected to be in the New York bullpen.
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New York had to make a roster move to accommodate Abreu being on the roster and announced that they had optioned righty Clarke Schmidt to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Thursday morning. Clarke was one of the Yankees relievers who had minor league options in their contracts.
Boone said that Schmidt has been a more consistent strike-thrower, but there was still room for improvement.
“I think there’s a lot of value in him going down and starting,” the Yankees skipper said. “And getting a little bit built up. We may not have the luxury of timing. Maybe he can go down for three or four weeks and kind of start to build up and get a handful of starts and make that an option, while also long-term building him some volume moving forward if he’s going to be a starter for us at some point this year or next year.”
Additionally, Aroldis Chapman will begin a rehab assignment over the weekend in Double-A Sommerset. He has been dealing with an Achilles injury.
