With less than a month to go before the trade deadline, the Yankees are thought to be prioritizing a right-handed hitting catcher and high-leverage relief arms in talks with other clubs. In contrast, the rotation has been a strength all season, as the group anchored by Cam Schlittler is a Top-10 unit by ERA (3.54), strikeout rate (24.2%), and fWAR (8.7).

Health will be the biggest X factor for the rotation going forward. That’s especially true in light of Carlos Rodón landing on the injured list on Friday, as well as Max Fried‘s continued absence for a left elbow bone bruise. Rodón went down for left elbow inflammation, and initially, the team didn’t offer a clear timeline for his return. Now, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, it’s believed that Rodón is four to six weeks away from returning to a big league mound.

The 33-year-old lefty underwent surgery back in October to remove loose bodies from his elbow, which led him to open the season on the injured list. Rodón was activated on May 10th and has since posted a 3.30 ERA while averaging just over five innings per start. He’s walking hitters at a 13.4% rate that’s uncharacteristically high, but he’s also done well at keeping the ball in the yard. Rodón has allowed just three homers in 46 1/3 innings (0.58 HR/9), a marked improvement over last year’s 1.01 HR/9 rate, which was already his best in three seasons with the Yankees.

The overall output makes Rodón a key piece of New York’s ideal playoff rotation along with Schlittler, Fried, and Gerrit Cole. Now, Rodón may not return until the middle of August, so the team might feel a greater urgency to add a starter at the deadline. Between Rodón’s injury history and those of the Yankees’ would-be depth pieces, such as Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt, it could be wise to add to the rotation rather than assume better health over the stretch run or impact performances from their minor league options. While the latter is not impossible, as Schlittler proved last year, it’s unlikely that Elmer Rodríguez and others will become impact pieces in time for this year’s postseason.

While Rodón is likely to miss the rest of July, his rotation mate in Fried is closer to returning. As relayed by Bill Ladson of MLB.com, Fried followed up a bullpen session on Friday by throwing live batting practice this morning. He threw 36 pitches in total, mixing in his four-seamer, slider, and cutter. According to manager Aaron Boone, Fried will throw another live session later in the week and could begin a rehab assignment shortly afterward.

That increases the likelihood of Fried returning before the end of July. With Ryan Weathers having a 5.81 ERA over his last six starts and Will Warren being solid but hardly dominating, a healthy Fried will be its own upgrade to the rotation. The lefty posted a 3.21 ERA in 10 starts before going down for the bone bruise.

He’s also worked to hone his delivery while on the IL, with Ladson writing that Fried is trying to “be a little more balanced and just be more on time” after feeling his mechanics were off early in the season. Improved health and mechanics could help Fried maintain his early-season performance over the stretch run while hedging against the injury risks in Rodón and Weathers. The latter is only 6 1/3 innings away from passing his career high for one season (94 2/3 innings in 2021).

Turning to the offense, Ladson writes that second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr.‘s exit from today’s game was due to a leg injury. Facing Twins starter Joe Ryan, Chisholm flew out to right field and appeared to limp while running to first base. Amed Rosario entered for Chisholm in the top of the sixth, playing third base, while José Caballero slid over to second.

Chisholm struggled to a 74 wRC+ through the end of April but has a 110 wRC+ since May 1st. Statcast continues to take a favorable view of his work at second base, giving him 8 Outs Above Average and an 83rd-percentile Fielding Run Value. With Aaron Judge on the shelf, Chisholm’s 2.2 fWAR makes him the Yankees’ third-most valuable position player behind Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger. He is a free agent after the season, so both player and team will hope that Chisholm’s leg injury is not serious and that he continues to perform well in the second half.

Photo courtesy of Paul Rutherford, Imagn Images