10:19pm ET: Betances has a preexisting bone spur in his shoulder that is causing inflammation, Brian Cashman announced. He will receive a localized anti-inflammatory injection tomorrow and be shut down four weeks, which means he’s seven or eight weeks from returning to the Yankees.
4:52pm ET: It had been a few hours since the Yankees last suffered an injury, so they were due for another one this afternoon. Dellin Betances has returned to New York for tests after yesterday’s simulated game in Tampa did not go well, Aaron Boone announced. Betances did not feel good and the Yankees didn’t like the way the ball was coming out of his hand.
From the sound of things, Dellin is having his tests sometime this afternoon/evening, and I suppose that means we could get an update following tonight’s game. Yesterday’s simulated game was the second time Betances faced hitters since being shut down last month. Even with good news, it would seem there’s little chance he’ll be back this month.
The bullpen without Betances has struggled quite a bit. Adam Ottavino has been great, but Zack Britton and Chad Green have not, and Aroldis Chapman is missing velocity. What was supposed to be an overwhelming strength has instead been a bit of a liability, or least not as reliable as expected. Baseball can be a real jerk sometimes.
Betances is set to become a free agent after the season, so the injury comes at a terrible time for him. Even if he gets healthy and finishes the season strong, the injury takes a bite out of his free agent stock. You know teams will use it against him. Bummer. Hopefully everything checks out okay and Dellin makes it back relatively soon.