Frankie Montas hasn’t done much since the Yankees acquired him in July and now time is running out for him to salvage anything from this season after the right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday.
He received a cortisone shot in his troublesome right shoulder Monday after an MRI exam revealed inflammation in the area. It was Montas’ second cortisone injection since July, when he missed 17 games with a similar issue while still with the Athletics.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Montas will be shut down for about 10 days. Boone wasn’t sure if that will leave enough time to get him back as a starter before the playoffs.
“It might be hard to get his pitch count back up, but I think it’s certainly possible he can be in play for us,’’ Boone said before the Yankees’ 9-8 comeback victory over the Pirates at the Stadium.
Montas said Tuesday that he “rushed a little bit” in his first comeback. He said he expects to be shut down for two or three days and then start playing catch.
Frankie MontasN.Y. Post: Charles WenzelbergAsked if he was nervous that his season might be over, Montas said: “Not really. I still want to help this team in the playoffs.”
Montas hasn’t done much of that since the Yankees got him as the consolation prize to Luis Castillo, who went from Cincinnati to Seattle and has pitched well as a Mariner.
Montas, who was knocked around for four runs in 3 ¹/₃ innings in his most recent start, Friday in Milwaukee, has an unsightly 6.35 ERA in eight starts with the Yankees.
The loss of Montas means Domingo German will be back in the rotation. The right-hander is scheduled to start Saturday against the Red Sox.
Lessening the blow of Montas’ absence is the pending return of Luis Severino from the 60-day IL. Severino will make his first start on Wednesday versus the Pirates since going down with a strained lat in July.
“I’m happy to be back,” he said. Severino complained publicly when he was put on the 60-day IL because he didn’t think he would need that long to recover from the injury.
Now that he’s coming back while Montas is down, Severino isn’t as displeased with the timing.
“I feel really good,’’ Severino said. “Better than before. … I was resting for 60 days, so of course I feel fresh now. I think this is the best time for me to come back, since Montas is gonna be out. He’s a big piece to us.”
Severino said he expects to throw about 65 pitches on Wednesday and be built back up to 90-100 pitches by the playoffs.
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Boone also said, on The Post’s “The Show” podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman, that Gerrit Cole will start Game 1 of the playoffs.
“Yeah, Cole would be,” Boone said. “And we feel great about Nestor [Cortes] obviously, too. And hopefully [Severino] getting back here and getting a few starts under his belt here at the back end, put him in that mix too. We’ve got a couple weeks to go there and we’ve got to see how we get there and how we get in. Those things always affect how you line things up.”
DJ LeMahieu took batting practice on the field before the Yankees’ 9-8 win over the Pirates on Tuesday night. It was his first BP since he was placed on the IL with right toe inflammation.
Boone said it was “possible” LeMahieu will be back during this homestand, which goes until Sunday.
Zack Britton pitched a scoreless inning for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his attempt to come back from elbow surgery in time for the postseason. … Right-hander Miguel Castro also tossed a scoreless frame for SWB in his comeback from a strained shoulder. … Right-hander Michael King is scheduled to have his elbow reexamined this week to see if Tommy John surgery is necessary.
Charlie Hayes, who won a World Series with the Yankees in 1996, threw out the first pitch to his son, Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes. … Veteran right-hander Danny Salazar, signed to a minor league deal earlier this season, was released after making just two appearances at Triple-A.
