The New York Yankees’ rotation suffered a significant blow Wednesday ahead of the start of the season.
The team announced that starting pitcher James Paxton will miss 3-4 months after undergoing a procedure to remove a peridiscal cyst.
Earlier today, LHP James Paxton underwent a microscopic lumbar discectomy with removal of a peridiscal cyst. The surgery was performed by Dr. Andrew Dossett in Dallas, Texas. His approximate timeline to return to Major League action is 3-4 months.
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 5, 2020
Paxton’s condition appears to be quite rare and causes significant back pain.
Per the NIH. Uncommon condition and it sounds pretty rough.https://t.co/B1N4dsHL9P pic.twitter.com/mPmp8H79tS
— Nick Stellini (@StelliniTweets) February 5, 2020
While it’s not a season-ender, it does mean Paxton will miss the first month of the season and could possibly be sidelined until June. That’s not a crushing blow to the Yankees, but they were counting on Paxton to be a big part of their rotation, and this will hurt them.
Paxton posted a 3.82 ERA for the Yankees last season, striking out 186 batters in 150.2 innings. He’s been an elite pitcher when healthy, but has struggled to stay on the field, with his career-high in innings being a modest 160.1 in 2018. That will be an issue again in 2020, at least at the start of the year.
