June 14: Boone said Saturday that although no decision has been determined, the cousins appear to be trending toward Tommy John’s surgery (via Bryan Hoch from MLB.com).
June 12: Yankee Relief Jack Cousins Due to flexor muscle strain, he has not entered the Grand Slam this season. He recently started a minor league rehabilitation mission in hopes of returning in the near future, but he has recently encountered setbacks in High-A. This is his second setback in recovery – he also dealt with chest issues last month – Manager Aaron Boone It was revealed yesterday that the cousins are now dealing with “seemingly UCL damage” (link via MLB.com’s Jackson Stone).
Yankee and cousin are still gathering opinions, but this is an unwelcome development. During early spring training, when the 30-year-old right-hander suffered an initial forearm/flexor injury, imaging showed that Cousins’ ligaments were intact (as the New York Post noted in February’s Greg Joyce). The pitcher himself told the Yankees that the then-God defeated the Yankees and the doctor said his sluster ligaments “look great” on the MRI he experienced.
Cousins, who sent cash from the White Sox to Chicago’s spring trade in the spring trade, quietly excelled against New York in 2024. He played 37 games for the Yanks and recorded a 2.37 ERA with a strikeout rate of 34.2%, but his walking rate in 38 innings was an unsightly 12.9%. The cousins have seen time in three major league seasons in Milwaukee before, but before becoming a minor league free agent, bounced from the Brewers to the Astros, signed a minor league deal with the minor leagues in the South and eventually returned to the Bronx Grand Slam event.
When healthy, cousins often see it as part of a useful bullpen arm – he has often been unhealthy in recent years. The former National Drafter dates back to the 2021 season, lacking biceps strains, elbow effusion/cystitis, shoulder inflammation and pectoral muscle strains. He scored a 2.78 ERA in 90 2/3 innings, facing one-third of the batsmen he faced since his debut in MLB in 2021, but he became a winemaker in 2021. However, he has only pitched 169 2/3 innings in the past four seasons – the Grand Slam and the Majors and Biens because he has been frequent soldiers in the past four seasons.
Most of the cousins’ injuries occur on the major league roster, so despite his limited situation in the major league, he will be serving in 2025 for three years. This will allow him to qualify for arbitration in the upcoming offseason, although his price is still close to the lowest if he can’t play in the major leagues this year. For now, it is hoped that the cousin can avoid surgery, as Tommy John’s procedure or internal support surgery could take him a year or more. It is presumably the Yankees will get more information on the level of their cousin’s injury and treatment plan in the next few days, but it seems he will be able to return to the Major League mound soon.
