ANAHEIM, Calif. — Before the Yankees began their series against the Angels with a 4-3 loss on Monday night, two of their key rehabbing players took the field.
Nestor Cortes threw 35 pitches in a live batting practice session at Angel Stadium that simulated two innings, during which he faced Aaron Judge, who stood in the box just to track pitches, and Franchy Cordero.
If Cortes, who has been out since the beginning of June with a left rotator cuff strain, rebounds from this session as expected, the plan is for the left-hander to begin a rehab assignment on Saturday with an affiliate to be determined.
Cortes is eligible to come off the 60-day injured list on Aug. 3.
“Nestor did good,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Judge, meanwhile, used the session to see live pitching without swinging.
The reigning AL MVP, who has been out since June 3 with a torn ligament in his right big toe, began taking regular batting practice on the field on Friday in Denver and continued to do so again on Monday, in addition to some running in the outfield.
It remains to be determined when Judge might be ready to begin a rehab assignment of his own, but the Yankees have been encouraged by the progress he has made of late.
The Yankees also have three outfielders tracking closer to a return from their respective injuries.
Greg Allen (hip flexor strain) will have his rehab assignment transferred to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday after playing a pair of games with Low-A Tampa over the weekend.
Jake Bauers (left rotator cuff contusion) will join Allen at SWB on Tuesday and work out for a couple of days before starting a rehab assignment.
Since SWB will be crowded with rehabbers, Willie Calhoun (left quad strain) will go to Double-A Somerset on Tuesday and work out for a few days with full baseball activities and then begin his own rehab assignment.
With those three outfielders on the way back, the Yankees could soon have a roster crunch on their hands.
“That’s all right,” Boone said. “The more decisions you have because talented people are involved, the better.”
Frankie Montas joined the Yankees at Angel Stadium on Monday after meeting with Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
The appointment with ElAttrache, who performed Montas’ shoulder surgery in February, was “all good,” and Montas will continue his throwing program, Boone said.
Montas, who had stopped throwing for a few days recently, has since started playing catch again — including on Monday — though he has yet to throw off the mound.
“I think that progression is coming,” Boone said. “Everything went well.”
The Yankees signed their top two draft picks on Monday in first-rounder George Lombard Jr., a high school shortstop, and third-rounder Kyle Carr, a junior college left-hander.