CLEVELAND — The Yankees were initially thinking that Marcus Stroman could get ramped back up fairly quickly to return from the injured list before long.
But 10 days after his last start, Stroman is still experiencing some issues with his left knee and does not sound particularly close to coming back.
“He’s still feeling some things in there, so he hasn’t — he threw, but it’s still kind of clearing the path for him,” manager Aaron Boone said Monday at Progressive Field. “Because he was still feeling some things in there.”
Stroman’s placement on the 15-day injured list with knee inflammation coincided with Clarke Schmidt’s return from the IL, so the Yankees did not need to fill a hole in the rotation.
But their depth beyond their current five starters is shaky — and that is with Carlos Carrasco still trying to prove he has enough left in the tank to at least get the Yankees to June, which is the earliest Luis Gil could return from his high-grade lat strain.
The 33-year-old Stroman, who is making $18.5 million this season, has an $18 million vesting option for 2026 that triggers if he pitches 140 innings this season — which would become unlikelier the longer he stays on the IL.
Still, Boone said he was hopeful that Stroman will be able to get right while he is on the IL.
“I know there’s probably some nerve stuff in there that was irritating it a little bit,” Boone said. “We’ll continue to work to try to get him physically where he needs to be and then hopefully start building him back up.”