Injured Yankees reliever Dellin Betances (shoulder impingement) isn't expected to return to the team until at least six or seven weeks from now, but he felt relieved on Saturday after receiving a cortisone shot.

"There's relief just because there's nothing structurally wrong," Betances said, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. "I know with this shot that in three weeks, with rest, I know everything will be right and I'm excited to help the team out and finish this season."

Seven weeks from this point brings us to the early part of June, when the Yankees hope to have many of their other walking wounded back, including Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton, Gary Sanchez, and Troy Tulowitzki. Miguel Andujar could also be back before then if he is able to avoid season-ending surgery.

Betances suffered a setback earlier this week, with GM Brian Cashman saying Friday that Betances would be shut down for three weeks after receiving the cortisone shot.

The shot was where there's inflammation around a pre-existing bone spur. Betances returned to New York after struggling during a simulated game on Thursday. Cashman said their team physician is optimistic that the injection will resolve the issue.

"On a scale of good news vs. bad news, it could've been much worse news," Cashman said.

"Dellin's a great pitcher, one of the elite relievers in the league," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said on Friday. "So there's no question that's a blow. He's important to what we do, but in the meantime we've got to make sure we're working really hard to make sure we get our couple of guys that have really strong track records on track."

Being without Betances is having a short-term and long-term impact on the Yankees, SNY.tv's Chris Carelli wrote earlier this week.

MARTINO: Could hobbled Yankees consider Andujar as 1B/DH this year? >> Read more

Popular in the Community