Carlos Rodon set for Yankees rehab assignment with return nearing

Carlos Rodón will begin what is expected to be a brief rehab assignment Saturday. The Yankees left-hander is expected to throw close to 50 pitches with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his first time pitching in a game in nearly six weeks. Citing the forgiving remaining schedule — the Yankees have seven more idle days on the regular-season calendar and only one stretch of 10 consecutive games without a day off — Aaron Boone said the club would not wait for Rodón to be fully stretched out before activating him. Whether Rodón requires one or two rehab starts — the latter of which is more likely, Boone said — the plan is for the lefty to mostly build up his pitch count at the major league level while using him in tandem with another starter or relying heavily on the bullpen.The Yankees used the same tactic with Max Fried, who made just one rehab start before jumping to the major league rotation and throwing 57 pitches in his first outing back. “We’ll definitely, probably piggyback [Rodón] at some point,” the manager said before opening a series against the Braves in The Bronx on Friday. Rodón has been sidelined with left elbow inflammation since June 28, after which he was shut down for a period, received a platelet-rich plasma injection and began building himself up again. The lefty, who had pitched to a 3.30 ERA in his first nine starts, said his elbow is no longer an issue. “It’s been really good,” said Rodón, whose season started late because of October surgery that removed loose bodies and shaved a bone spur in the same elbow.

“It feels normal.” Rodón made a league-best 33 starts last season, then two more in October, the second of which he was knocked around by the Blue Jays, which preceded the surgery. Maybe this injury will allow the 33-year-old to feel fresher in the year’s most important games. “I hope so,” Rodón said.“Right now it feels that way.

Obviously, we’ll see how it goes.” Anthony Volpe and Ja...