Yankees' Depth Option Suffers Setback in Rehab; Shut Down From Baseball Activities

One of the Yankees' acquisitions for rotation depth has been shut down after a minor league start.

May 28, 2022; San Diego, California, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher J.T. Brubaker (34) throws a pitch against the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees may not see this right-hander anytime soon, if at all.

According to beat reporter Bryan Hoch, J.T. Brubaker suffered an oblique injury during his last start on Thursday for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRaiders, and has been shut down from baseball activities. Brubaker lasted just one inning before sustaining the injury when fielding a swinging bunt; Yankees manager Aaron Boone doesn't believe that it was "real significant", but it still derails the right-hander's rehab.

RHP J.T. Brubaker sustained an oblique injury during his last start for July 11 for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and has been shut down from baseball activities. Brubaker had been targeting July for a big league return.

— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) July 14, 2024

The 30-year-old Brubaker, a three-season veteran with the Pittsburgh Pirates, had missed the entire 2023 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. In 63 games from 2020 to 2022, he struggled greatly with a 9-28 record, a 4.99 ERA, and a 1.38 WHIP in 315.2 innings pitched.

Brubaker was traded to the Yankees on March 29 for infield prospect Keiner Delgado; although he was still recovering from surgery at the time, he began to work his way back and targeted a return in late July. In five rehab assignments across four minor league levels, he has a 3.29 ERA and 1.02 WHIP, with eight walks and seven strikeouts in 13.2 innings.

Although Brubaker has seen little success in the majors, and the walk-to-strikeout ratio in his rehab assignments are concerning, the Yankees have been well known for developing struggling pitchers into quality arms since Matt Blake became their pitching coach; examples of this include relievers Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver. With the Bronx Bombers also having a five-man rotation (barring the return of Clarke Schmidt), Brubaker could have been a long relief option for the team due to his prior experience as a starter.

But with Brubaker on the shelf with an injury that is notoriously difficult to deal with, the Yankees will have to move in a different direction.