In addition to surgery to removal of a bone chip in his elbow, Zack Britton had Tommy John surgery Wednesday and will likely be out till the end of the 2022 season, the Yankees announced Thursday.
"He ended up having a reconstruction, a repair and they removed a bone chip from him yesterday," Aaron Boone said pregame Thursday. "Spoke with him today, he's still out in LA... as far as timetable and things like that, not gonna speculate on that right now.
"There's some optimism that he'll be back by the end of next year, but he just had the surgery, so lets see where we're at, at least in the next 10 days or so."
The lefty reliever exits a 2021 season that was riddled with injuries and saw him struggle on the mound when he managed to take it.
In 22 games, Britton had a 5.89 ERA this year, allowing 12 earned runs in 18.1 innings -- he had three blown saves in four opportunities, and allowed at least one run in half of his outings, and 11 of his last 19.
"I’ve been playing a long time and have been fortunate not to have injuries," Britton said to reporters last week. "I just view it as kind of another chapter of my career where I get an opportunity to use these months that I have to make myself better as I get back with the team. As you get older, you always look for new ways to improve, and I’ll have some time to do that and hopefully be better for that when I come back."
"It’s disappointing to end this way," he added.