New York Yankees left-handed relief pitcher Zack Britton is having a rough 2021.
As Bryan Hoch noted for the official MLB website, Britton battled COVID-19 in January and "lost a good amount of weight" because of the virus. After the 33-year-old recently complained of soreness in his left elbow following a bullpen session, an MRI showed that he requires arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone chip in his throwing shoulder. The operation is expected to occur within the next several days.
While the Yankees are shutting Britton down for at least six weeks, SNY's Andy Martino reported that the southpaw may miss three-to-four months of action.
Across 20 appearances during the pandemic-shortened 2020 regular season, Britton tallied a 1.89 ERA with eight saves, 16 strikeouts, and a 1-2 record over 19.0 innings of work.
"As far as timetables and stuff like that, we'll have more in the coming day or two," manager Aaron Boone said on Tuesday, per Marly Rivera of ESPN. Rivera added that it's believed Dr. Christopher Ahmad will perform the procedure at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
Britton addressed his health via Twitter:
I appreciate the support from everyone. We all have daily challenges we have to overcome in order to reach our goals. Just have to keep pushing ahead! I will get this taken care of during the upcoming week and be back as soon as I can.
— Zack Britton (@zbritton) March 9, 2021
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