New York Yankees Manager Aaron Boone Delivers Potentially Ominous News About Pitcher

New York Yankees right-hander Chase Hampton, the No. 2 pitching prospect in the club’s farm system, is dealing with a flexor strain in his pitching arm, manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday.

But the news could be even more ominous for the Yankees and for Hampton, who lost most of the 2024 season to injury.

Boone told reporters in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday that Hampton, 23, seems to have “something going on” in his right ulnar collateral ligament.

The team sent him back to New York for medical testing, the New York Post reported. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the Yankees' sixth-rated overall prospect.

The Yankees selected Hampton in the sixth round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Texas Tech, and he had a productive first pro season in 2023. At Double-A Somerset and High-A Hudson Valley. Hampton made 20 starts and finished 4-3 with a 3.63 ERA and 145 strikeouts in 106.2 innings, posting a 3.92 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

He entered the 2024 season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 72 prospect in the nation. But what was diagnosed as a flexor strain, and then later a groin injury, limited him to just seven games.

Boone said Hampton threw a bullpen session last Friday and reported discomfort in his arm.

“We’ll see what we have here, but just having an uneven season last year with some injuries, I know he’s pretty bummed about that,” Boone said.

In all, Hampton has thrown 125.1 innings in the Yankees farm system and has a 4-4 record and a 3.45 ERA.