Zack Britton had not pitched in nearly a week heading into Wednesday after manager Aaron Boone said the left-handed reliever experienced soreness that led the Yankees to stay away from him Sunday.
Britton, who had elbow surgery during spring training after battling COVID-19 during the offseason, is still building up to full strength.
“The surgery wasn’t that long ago and I had no spring training, so it’s kind of an uphill battle,’’ said Britton, who has thrown three scoreless innings since his return on June 12. “It doesn’t mean I can’t have success. You just have to grind through it.”
Britton said he’s still building up strength and stamina and added that he hopes to be back to normal by the time the All-Star break is over next month.
“It’s part of the process,’’ Britton said before the Yankees faced the Orioles Wednesday night at the Stadium.
He would have been able to pitch Tuesday, but the Yankees were committed to using Jonathan Loaisiga in the eighth inning after getting him up in the seventh. Loaisiga gave up four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning in the 6-5 loss.
“Britton is in play and will be the eighth-inning guy going forward,’’ Boone said.
The Yankees are still struggling in center field after losing Aaron Hicks to season-ending wrist surgery.
Aaron Judge started there Wednesday night, but was in the middle of a bit of a slump. Judge entered the night 9-for-39 with just one extra-base hit and one RBI in his previous nine games. In that stretch. Judge also struck out 18 times, with three walks.
There’s no obvious choice at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, with Estevan Florial still unable to produce consistently.
Rougned Odor was in the lineup Wednesday, in part because of Gio Urshela’s absence, but his role on the Yankees seems tenuous. The 27-year-old delivered a number of hits in critical situations shortly after the Yankees acquired him following his designation for assignment by the Rangers.
Lately, however, he has joined the list of underperforming offensive players. He entered the night with an on-base percentage of .261, the worst of any current Yankee — with Andujar not much better, at .264.
The Yankees like Odor’s left-handed power, but other than 13 extra-base hits he hasn’t provided much else.