Browsing: Rodón

Oct 16, 2025, 12:27 PM ET

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge won’t need surgery on his elbow, but left-hander Carlos Rodon underwent an operation this week and could miss Opening Day.

Judge’s throwing was limited after he hurt the flexor tendon in his right elbow in July. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday that an MRI after the team was eliminated last week showed “no surgery is going to be needed.”

“He’ll take some time off and continue to do strengthening things and rehab and stuff,” Boone said. “But it felt like he finished the season in a pretty good place, as we saw continued improvements with him.”

Judge, 33, led the majors in batting average (.331), OPS (1.144) and WAR (9.7) while finishing with 53 home runs and 114 RBIs. He hit .500 with 1 homer, 7 RBIs and 4 walks in the postseason.

Boone said he expects Judge to be New York’s every-day right fielder in 2026 and downplayed the idea that the two-time American League MVP could see some playing time at first base.

Judge hurt the elbow making a throw at Toronto on July 22. The seven-time All-Star returned Aug. 5 from a 10-day stint on the injured list and threw gingerly upon his outfield return Sept. 5. He built up arm strength and made a 90.2 mph throw from right field in the AL Division Series opener.

Rodón was operated on by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Wednesday to remove loose bodies in his left elbow and shave a bone spur. He has eight weeks of no throwing, and the start of his season could be delayed by a couple of weeks, Boone said.

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Rodón, who will turn 33 in December, was 18-9 with a 3.09 ERA.

Boone also said slugger Giancarlo Stanton does not need surgery on his elbows.

“He’s in a pretty good place,” Boone said. “He’ll treat it and everything, but nothing expected for Big G.”

Gerrit Cole, returning from Tommy John surgery in March, will throw lightly off a mound next week and could be available not far after Opening Day.

New York has a record 27 World Series titles but none since 2009. After beating the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card Series, the Yankees lost a four-game ALDS to the Blue Jays.

“It’s just playing at the highest level at the most important time, and you’ve got to maintain that and do that for the entire month of October,” said Boone, the manager since the 2018 season.

After losing to the Dodgers in the 2024 World Series, New York started the season 35-20, slumped during a 25-34 stretch as its bullpen struggled, then closed 34-14 and lost the AL East to Toronto on a tiebreaker.

“Could I have been more creative in some of the things that I could have done in those games in the middle of the season where we were a little short?” Boone asked out loud.

Boone’s contract runs through 2027.

“He’s one of the better managers,” GM Brian Cashman said. “Because of our environment, he’s someone that can be second-guessed 10 million times over.

“And I don’t care who you put in that, that would be the same, whoever else would be there. I trust him. I think he’s a good man. I think he works his tail off.”

Among potential free agents, Cashman said the Yankees would like to retain Cody Bellinger.

“We’d love to have him with our team moving forward,” he said.

Bullpen coach Mike Harkey and first base/infield coach Travis Chapman won’t return for 2026. Assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler won’t be in that role, and minor league hitting coordinator Jake Hirst will be taking that job.

Cashman added that third-base coach Luis Rojas was given permission to interview for Baltimore’s manager opening and that hitting coach James Rowson was allowed to interview for Minnesota’s manager job.

ESPN’s Jorge Castillo and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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NEW YORK — Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodón underwent a procedure on his left elbow to remove loose bodies and shave down a bone spur, manager Aaron Boone said Thursday.

Rodón is not expected to be ready for Opening Day 2026, but his recovery timetable puts him in line to return to the Yankees rotation either sometime in April or early May next season.

For now, Rodón will not throw for eight weeks. That period of no activity, which will last until mid-December, will push back the start of Rodón’s 2026 season.

“When you build in all the ramp-up and the throwing program and getting him ready to be a starting pitcher, that probably delays him potentially a couple of weeks to start the season,” Boone said at Thursday’s news conference at Yankee Stadium.

Rodón had the surgery on Wednesday. It was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles, who also performed Yankees ace Gerrit Cole’s Tommy John surgery in March.

The 32-year-old Rodón is coming off his best season as a Yankee, having gone 18-9 — tied for second-most wins in the Majors — with a 3.09 ERA in 33 starts. He struck out 203 batters in 195 1/3 innings, and held opponents to a .188 batting average, which was the best mark in the AL. He was also named an All-Star for the third time in his 11-year MLB career.

Because Rodón will be starting the 2026 season on the injured list, the Yankees could look to pursue additional starting pitching in free agency or via trade this winter. But general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday that he’s not sure yet what the team’s course of action will be.

“Certainly the last two years have been really good for us with Carlos,” Cashman said. “But I don’t know what that means [as far as] where we put our remaining resources, and how we reinforce. Do we have enough from within, or do we have to go outside to augment? You can never have enough pitching, so I don’t know. But clearly the good thing is: He’s coming back, so we have to make sure there’s room on that roster when he does.”

The 2025 season was Rodón’s third since signing a six-year, $162 million deal with New York. The lefty was strong for the Yankees down the stretch, allowing two earned runs or fewer in four of his five September starts to help New York clinch an AL Wild Card spot.

Rodón made two starts in the postseason — one each in the AL Wild Card Series vs. the Red Sox and the ALDS against the Blue Jays — and pitched to a 9.72 ERA in 8 1/3 innings.

The Yankees were aware that Rodón’s elbow might eventually need a cleanup. But Rodón was able to keep pitching through the season, and doctors deemed it suitable to wait to address the issue at least until after the postseason.

“We knew at some point it might be something that would have to be dealt with,” Cashman said. “If this presser was three weeks ago, I wouldn’t have had a surgery on my mind for Carlos Rodón, taking him out at the beginning of next year. But it’s also not surprising, given the job that he does.”

In other Yankees pitcher injury news, the Bombers’ ace continues to make progress in his Tommy John surgery recovery.

Cole’s on track to start facing live hitters from the mound at some point during Spring Training, and while he won’t be ready by Opening Day, the Yankees are hopeful that Cole will be pitching for them in 2026 not long after.

Cole, who has been rehabbing from the surgery he had on his right elbow in March, is scheduled to throw lightly off a mound next week. He will meet with Dr. ElAttrache in California next month and again before Spring Training.

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