Yankees Injury Report: James Paxton nearing his return to the rotation

Yankees left-hander James Paxton has been on the IL with left knee inflammation since May 4th but after throwing a bullpen on Tuesday without feeling any discomfort he’s scheduled to throw a simulated game on Friday.

The Yankees continue to get good news on the injury front. Many of their injured stars are making positive strides towards their returns and it looks Paxton could be the first one to make his.

According to George King III of the New York Post Paxton was green-lighted by the Yankee training staff to throw a three-inning sim game on Friday. If that goes well there’s a chance he could return to the Yankee rotation next week when they host the Padres for a three-game set. If no than starting on Thursday the Yanks will then begin a four-game set with the third-place Red Sox so it wouldn’t surprise me if they save Paxton’s return for one of those games.

Outside of J.A. Happ, who has really struggled of late the starting staff has been very solid since Paxton went down. However, over the past week and a half, they’ve been featuring a four-man rotation because on May 13th Paxton’s replacement Jonathan Loaisiga went on the IL with an injury of his own.

The Yanks ended up getting rained out on the 13th and 14th so they were able to skip his turn in the rotation. Although this past Sunday when it came around they were forced to use Chad Green as an opener and it didn’t go well.

On Friday they might have to use an opener again or call up Chance Adams or Nestor Cortes Jr. to make the start but the next time that turn in the rotation comes around Paxton should be back. Moving forward I’m sure Aaron Boone would prefer to use an actual starter so his impending return couldn’t come at a better time.

Tanaka good to go

After Masahiro Tanaka was hit by a line drive on his right shin during his start on Saturday there was some concern that he wouldn’t be able to make his next scheduled start.