Potential New York Yankees Target Scratched From Start Due to Elbow Discomfort

A potential New York Yankees trade target was scratched from his start on Friday.

With the start of the season the New York Yankees have had, it's safe to say the team will be active during the trade deadline. Factor in the injury to Gerrit Cole, landing another arm or two around the deadline will be a must for this front office.

It's uncertain which teams will be sellers at this point in the year. Certain teams have made themselves clear sellers already, but for the most part, teams are still in the mix in their divisions.

Of the potential trade candidates for the Yankees, Jesus Luzardo of the Miami Marlins was one they were continuously linked to. Luzardo, a left-handed pitcher, has had a brutal start to the season, posting an ERA of 6.58 in 26.0 innings pitched. His 19 earned runs in those 26.0 innings are certainly a concern, but the 26-year-old posted two straight seasons with a sub-3.60 ERA in 2022 and 2023.

While Luzardo has struggled, the expectation was for New York to still be interested in making a move for him.

That looks to possibly not be the case after Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported that Luzardo was scratched from his start on Friday and will undergo testing for elbow discomfort.

Major League Baseball has had issues during the past few seasons with elbow issues, so hopefully the Peru native isn't the latest victim of a major elbow injury.

Luzardo's fastball is down about 1 MPH, according to Baseball Savant. During the 2023 season, he was around 96.7 MPH. In 2024, his fastball is around 95.9 MPH, but that's still a slight difference.

His advanced numbers are some of the worst in his recent career, sitting with below-average metrics in xERA, xBA, pitching run value, fastball run value, and offspeed run value.

After being above average in some of those statistics during the 2023 season, it could be an indication that Luzardo does have something wrong.

Hopefully, that isn't the case.