ARLINGTON, Texas — Luis Severino is finally ready to get back into game action.
The Yankees right-hander, who has been sidelined by a strained lat since the final week of spring training, will begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday or Thursday with Single-A Tampa, manager Aaron Boone said Sunday.
Severino had been slowly building back up with bullpens and three live batting practice sessions, the most recent one coming on Friday when he threw 40 pitches across three simulated innings. Boone had said on Friday that Severino would “probably” throw another live session, but instead he is feeling strong enough to begin a rehab assignment.
“Sevy’s doing well,” Boone said before the Yankees got crushed 15-2 by the Rangers at Globe Life Field.
It remains to be seen how many rehab starts Severino will need as he builds up his pitch count, but it puts his potential return around mid-to-late May if everything goes well.
Severino would be in line to replace Jhony Brito or Clarke Schmidt in the rotation, but the Yankees have a few weeks to go before they have to make that decision, assuming all of their starters remain healthy.
The Yankees certainly could use a boost in the rotation. Outside of Gerrit Cole, who has been terrific to start the season with a 1.11 ERA in six starts, the rest of their starters have combined for a 5.65 ERA.
Josh Donaldson (hamstring strain) and Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring strain) have both been hitting, throwing and started their running programs.
“I would say they’re both definitely making progress,” Boone said.
Boone said on April 21 that Donaldson would be out “a couple more weeks,” after experiencing a setback in his rehab. Stanton, meanwhile, was expected to be out through the end of May because his strain was more severe.
Harrison Bader played a third straight rehab game on Sunday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He played nine innings on both Saturday and Sunday — Saturday in center field and Sunday at DH.
“He’s getting close,” Boone said.
Overall in seven rehab games, Bader is 3-for-25.
Tommy Kahnle (biceps tendinitis) threw his second bullpen session on Sunday morning at Globe Life Field, totaling 20 pitches with 16 fastballs and four changeups.
“Everything felt right,” Kahnle said.
Kahnle is scheduled to throw another bullpen session on Thursday and then could advance to facing live hitters. On the 60-day IL, Kahnle is expected to make four to six rehab appearances before he is eligible to be activated by the end of May.
Oswald Peraza batted second on Sunday, going 1-for-4 with an RBI. … Aaron Hicks collected his second multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.