Yankees' Darren O'Day Starts Throwing Program After Rotator Cuff Injury

New York Yankees reliever Darren O'Day started his throwing program on the injured list with a rotator cuff strain. O'Day could rejoin the bullpen next month

NEW YORK — Three weeks after landing on the 10-day injured list with a rotator cuff strain, Darren O'Day is throwing again.

The reliever tossed on the field at Yankee Stadium on Saturday morning, the first time he's thrown since getting shut down at the very beginning of this month.

"Good news there that he's out playing catch," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Saturday. "That's now the start of a throwing program to start to build him back. So first day of that, hopefully everything goes well. We'll start to move forward in that regard."

As much as O'Day throwing is a good sign, Boone prefaced that the right-hander is still "a ways away" from rejoining the bullpen. 

The skipper explained that with these types of injuries, it'll take more than the time he was shut down to build back up. That means three or four weeks.

Best-case scenario for O'Day would be a return to the big-league club sometime in June, Boone said. 

"We're in the very early days of starting a throwing program. So we'll see how the next days and now weeks unfold and when he's able to get back out on the mound."

In his place, New York's 'pen has continued to excel this month after a stellar start to the season. The likes of closer Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green and Jonathan Loaisiga have been dominant at the end of games. Overall, and entering play on Saturday, the Yankees' bullpen has the third-best ERA in baseball (2.83).

O'Day has posted a 3.00 ERA over nine innings pitched this season, striking out nine while allowing eight hits. 

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