Yankees injury update: Nestor Cortes, Harrison Bader progressing; Latest on Jameson Taillon, Anthony Rizzo, 11 others

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Injured Yankees starters are recovering. Jameson Taillon‘s Tuesday scare was minor, Nestor Cortes threw a bullpen before Wednesday’s 3-2 loss to the Angels, and Luis Severino will enter a rehab start on Friday.

A lot of Aaron Boone’s injured Yankees relievers, such as Zack Britton, Miguel Castro, Aroldis Chapman, and Scott Effross, are also getting closer to coming back in September.

The Yankees also expect utility man Matt Carpenter to return and Gold Glove outfielder Harrison Bader to be healthy before the season’s end.

The Yankees are sure that first baseman Anthony Rizzo‘s latest back problem will be taken care of soon.

Here are the latest injured Yankees updates about Taillon, Rizzo, and the other 13 Yankees on the injured list:

ANTHONY RIZZO
Injury: Lower back stiffness
Status: Active
Missed games: 1

The latest: Rizzo homered Monday and Tuesday in Anaheim to reach 30 for the season, but he didn’t start Wednesday’s series finale against the Angels. He’ll get another day of rest on Thursday, the Yankees’ off day, but he may miss the start of this weekend’s series at Tampa Bay, where they’ll play on turf. In June and August, Rizzo missed four games with lower back stiffness. He is expected to come off the list of injured Yankees first.

Obviously he’s got good results the last couple of days, but it’s definitely been something that’s wearing him down a little bit, manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday. He just can’t move like he’d like. He’s dealing with some pain in there. He’s not able to do the level of exercises that he usually does to be able to prepare himself to play every day. I think we have a good plan in place moving forward that we’re confident that we can get it corrected. It’s not going to be an IL situation.

JAMESON TAILLON
Injury: Right forearm contusion
Status: Active
Missed starts: 0

The latest: Taillon missed the ranks of injured Yankees by a whisker. He feared a season-ending injury after taking a liner off his pitching wrist Tuesday night in Anaheim, but X-rays were negative. Wednesday, he felt better and hopes to start on Sept. 6. Thursday in Tampa, he’ll know if that’s realistic.

There’s still a little bit of swelling in there, but he was encouraged, Boone said. He felt like it feels better than he expected (Wednesday). We’ll see how the next couple days go and hopefully be in position to make his next start.

ALBERT ABREU
Injury: Right elbow inflammation
Status: 15-day injured list since Aug. 21
Missed games: 10

The latest: After being sidelined for nearly two weeks due to an injury, Abreu is expected to leave the list of injured Yankees and resume throwing this coming weekend.

HARRISON BADER
Injury: Left Achilles tendonitis
Status: Placed on 10-day IL June 27 while with Cardinals, transferred to 60-day IL on Aug. 25
Missed games: 53

The latest: Bader has been hitting off a tee for the past few days and may be less than a week away from beginning an assignment in rehabilitation.

Boone says Bader definitely will need a few minor-league games before coming off the IL.

ZACK BRITTON
Injury: Tommy John surgery on Sept. 8, 2021
Status: 60-day injured list since March 13
Missed games: 131

The latest: Britton will throw a bullpen on Thursday in Tampa to get off the list of injured Yankees. His second rehab outing on Aug. 27 was cut short by glute cramping. Britton and the Yankees still hope for a September return, but he’ll need six or seven more rehab outings.

MATT CARPENTER
Injury: Left foot fracture
Status: Has been on 10-day IL since Aug. 9
Missed games: 21

The latest: Carpenter is recovering in Fort Worth, Texas. In early September, he’ll be reexamined to see how his fracture is healing and could resume baseball. Yankees expect him back in September.

MIGUEL CASTRO
Injury: Right shoulder strain
Status: 15-day injured list since July 16 (backdated to July 13), 60-day IL since Aug. 1
Missed games: 44

The latest: Castro completed a bullpen session on August 30 at the Yankees’ minor-league complex in Tampa, but the progression of his rehabilitation program will be slowed down because of “heaviness” in his shoulder. He remains among the injured Yankees.

AROLDIS CHAPMAN
Injury: Right thigh infection from a new tattoo
Status: 15-day injured list since Aug. 27 (backdated to Aug. 24)
Missed games: 7

The latest: Chapman feels better after two bad days, but he hasn’t resumed throwing. Boone said, “No plan.” Chapman can return on Sept. 8, but it may take a few days longer.

NESTOR CORTES
Injury: Left groin strain
Status: 15-day injured list since Aug. 25 (backdated to Aug. 22)
Missed games: 9

The latest: Cortes threw a bullpen before Wednesday’s game in Anaheim. Saturday, he’ll throw live batting practice at the Yankees’ Tampa minor-league complex. If everything goes well, Cortes will return to the Yankees’ rotation five or six days later.

SCOTT EFFROSS
Injury: Right shoulder strain
Status: 15-day injured list since Aug. 22 (backdated to Aug. 21)
Missed games: 10

The latest: After 10 days, Effross will resume light tossing on Thursday. Boone: “He’s feeling good and ready to go.” Once Effross starts throwing, the manager said he’ll be ready in 10 days.

LUIS GIL
Injury: Suffered a season-ending elbow injury during a Triple-A start on May 18 and had Tommy John surgery about 10 days later.
Status: 7-day minor-league injured list since May 25, 60-day MLB IL since Aug. 28
Missed games: 4

The latest: Gil is no more among the injured Yankees and wants to pitch next season. His rehab is going well, he tweeted on June 30: “We’ll return soon.”

CHAD GREEN
Injury: Tommy John’s surgery on June 3, to repair a right flexor tear
Status: 15-day injured list on March 21. Transferred to 60-day IL on May 27
Missed games: 93

The latest: Green has been rehabbing in Louisville and hopes to pitch next year. The injured Yankees reliever recovers from Tommy John in 12 months. After 2022, he’ll be free.

MICHAEL KING
Injury: Right elbow fracture
Status: 60-day injured list since July 23
Missed games: 36

The latest: King is 5 weeks post-op. In a month, his ligament will be reexamined to determine if he needs Tommy John surgery. The Yankees hope he won’t need Tommy John and will be ready for spring training next year instead of 2023.

STEPHEN RIDINGS
Injury: Right shoulder impingement
Status: 60-day injured list since April 5
Missed games: 131

The latest: After being shut down for the first half of the season, Ridings has been throwing at the bullpen. Matt Blake, the Yankees pitching coach, said on Aug. 13 that Ridings could be in the majors this season.

LUIS SEVERINO
Injury: Low grade right lat strain
Status: 15-day injured list since July 14, 60-day IL since Aug. 1
Missed games: 43

The latest: Severino has his final days among injured Yankees and will rehab with Tampa on Friday. He’ll pitch two innings/35 pitches. Boone said he’ll make three rehab starts before rejoining the Yankees’ rotation. When Severino returns, he could make low-pitch-count starts and piggyback with another starter (perhaps Clarke Schmidt).

Do these injured Yankees have good prospects? What do you think? Any message from you for Yankees and fans?