BALTIMORE — Flashback to two weeks ago:
Rehabbing Yankees reliever Ron Marinaccio didn’t know if he was ready to be challenged on his first day of throwing following five shutdown days. Get out to 90 feet so soon after going on the injured list with shoulder fatigue?
“I was a little tentative,” Marinaccio said. “I felt it was pretty quick, but I trusted the staff. They said, ‘You’re good for it.’ And first day back I felt really good. That was the first hump to mentally get over.”
The last hurdle may have been Friday night at his old stomping grounds, TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater Township, N.J. Back with the Double-A Somerset Patriots for one night, their 2021 closer looked and felt good in a rehab outing.
Entering in the sixth inning of the Patriots’ 10-8 win over Reading, Marinaccio faced three batters and struck out all three, two with changeups.
His fastball touched 98 and sat in the high-to-mid 90s.
That was encouraging because his heater had dropped to the low 90s in a few outings before he went on the IL .
He says he’s ready.
“Absolutely,” Marinaccio said.
The Yankees need him. Their bullpen lost its setup man Michael King to a season-ending right elbow fracture during the eighth inning of Friday night’s 7-6 Yankees win in Baltimore. And Marinaccio’s been excellent. He’s pitched to a 2.33 ERA in 17 outings and retired 46 of 47 working 15 1/3 shutout innings in his last 13.
Before King’s injury, the Yankees tentatively were looking at a Sunday return for Marinaccio, who also pitched a rehab inning for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 17.
Sunday now seems like a sure thing.
One of Marinaccio’s big takeaways from his Friday outing was how he’s feeling back to normal.
“I think when you realize you’re getting back to 100 percent is when it’s not even in the back of your mind anymore,” Marinaccio said. “The health is good. I’m still shaking off some rust here and there. I felt really good with the changeup. I pulled one fastball into the backstop, so I’m still shaken off some of the rust here and there.”
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
Source: nj.com
