Spring Training is a time for hope for 30 teams in the MLB. After all, every team has a clean slate, and they are entering the season looking to put into practice everything they’ve been working on during the offseason. But for one New York Yankees reliever, the road to recovery for him continues after he encountered a setback in his recovery from what already was a very serious injury.
According to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, 30-year old Yankees reliever Scott Effross will be undergoing a slow ramp-up period from the back surgery he underwent in December. Kirschner wrote that Effross won’t be available “until the summer”, which means that it wouldn’t be until late June where the reliever could conceivably make his return to the mound.
It has simply been a nightmare past 16 months for the Yankees reliever. Back in October 2022, fresh off a midseason trade from the Chicago Cubs, Effross sustained an elbow injury that necessitated Tommy John surgery. This was the procedure that kept him out for the entirety of 2023.
Tommy John rehab usually takes a full season off a pitcher, and had everything gone according to plan, Scott Effross could have been back for the Yankees at the start of the 2024 training camp. This could have made him available to pitch during Spring Training, and if he managed to carry over his 2022 level of play, then he could have easily secured a spot on the Yankees bullpen.
Alas, back problems became quite the problem point for Effross, and he required surgery in early December that will now keep him out of action for a minimum of four more months.
Yankees fans will be hoping that Scott Effross comes back to the mound healthier than ever after a tumultuous injury recovery process. After all, Effross looked like he was only getting better as a reliever back when the team acquired him in 2022.
In 12.2 innings of work for the Yankees in 2022 (13 games), Effross put up a pristine 2.13 ERA. And he still had plenty of room to grow, especially when his strikeout rate in Pinstripes wasn’t in line with his usual numbers. Here’s to a speedy recovery for the 30-year old reliever.
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