Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees' Catcher Ben Rortvedt Undergoes Knee Surgery

Rortvedt began his Yankees career, earlier this spring, sidelined with a right oblique muscle strain.

Max Goodman

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Yankees catcher Ben Rortvedt underwent left knee surgery on Tuesday, the team announced on Wednesday afternoon.

Rortvedt's arthroscopic surgery—a partial meniscectomy or "meniscus clean-up"—was performed by Yankees head team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. 

New York confirmed that the procedure went as expected. The recovery time to begin playing games again is expected to be six-to-eight weeks.

Rortvedt was initially acquired by the Yankees in the Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela trade, the same deal with the Twins that brought Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to New York.

The 24-year-old backstop came over from Minnesota with an existing oblique injury, sending him to the 10-day injured list before the regular season began. That influenced the Yankees to go out and trade for backstop Jose Trevino—sending right-hander Albert Abreu to the Rangers—to add another defense-first catcher to the organization. 

This knee injury for Rortvedt popped up when he finally began a rehab assignment after he was cleared for in-game action. Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed last week, during New York's four-game series in Chicago, that the catcher was dealing with a knee issue. Rortvedt appeared in just two games with the Low-A Tampa Tarpons before this new setback.

Even if Rortvedt was healthy, he likely wouldn't factor into New York's big-league equation at the moment. Trevino and Kyle Higashioka have established a reliable defensive platoon behind the plate early on this season. Rortvedt is less experienced as well, appearing in just 39 MLB games last year during his first taste of big-league action.

"We really are excited about him and what he brings to the table too," Boone said last week about Rortvedt. "We just got to get him right right now. Feel like at some point he'll play a factor for us."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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