Britton ready for 8th; rules enforcement

NEW YORK -- After easing Zack Britton into action this month, the Yankees are ready for the left-hander to step into his eighth-inning setup role. It's an assignment that the veteran said he is eager to take on, despite a late stumble in Wednesday's wild 6-5 victory over the Royals.

"Physically, I've been feeling pretty good," Britton said before Wednesday's game. "My elbow feels great after the surgery; it's just more of a build-up thing. It's part of the process. I'm expecting, hopefully in a few weeks after the All-Star break, to just be my normal self."

Britton's second pitch on Wednesday was slugged to the left-field bleachers by Kansas City's Carlos Santana, the first run that Britton had allowed since the 2020 playoffs. Britton retired three of the next four hitters, pitching around a Jorge Soler double, giving the Yankees an opportunity to rally.

Britton missed the first 63 games of the regular season while recovering from surgery performed in March to remove a bone chip from his pitching elbow. He has made three scoreless appearances, but was dealing with elbow soreness after outings on June 15 and last Thursday against the Blue Jays in Buffalo, N.Y.

"You just don't have that intensity in the Minor League [rehab] games," Britton said. "Those were both games that we were winning; I was trying to maintain the lead and not working with my best stuff, so you're grinding through it a little more and working a little harder physically. That definitely took a toll on me."

Britton said that he was available to pitch on Tuesday, but manager Aaron Boone opted to use right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga to protect a one-run lead in the eighth inning. The Royals rallied for a 6-5 victory, and Boone indicated that he is ready to call Britton's name the next time a similar situation arises.

"Britt's doing well. Britt's ready to roll," Boone said. "He'll be that eighth-inning guy moving forward."

Keeping tabs
Boone said that the Yankees have held no additional meetings regarding umpires' increased enforcement of rules pertaining to foreign substances.

"It's obviously a tough spot for the umpires to be in, a tough spot for pitchers to be in when you're competing at the highest level," Boone said. "I think that's all going to take a little bit of getting used to for everyone. Hopefully it's off to a decent start and we get to a place where we're better as a sport for it."

Britton suggested that he would like to see implementation of a method where pitchers could be checked before they enter the game, noting that he'd prefer fans and players to be buzzing about events like the Major League debut of Rays top prospect Wander Franco.

"I'm all for cleaning up the sticky stuff -- 100 percent, it's gone too far," Britton said. "I think we can get checked in the bullpen prior to entering the game. I think guys can get checked in the dugout away from cameras, away from fans."

Britton said that he and right-hander Gerrit Cole are both available to speak to Major League Baseball on the topic. Britton and Cole are on the MLB Players' Association executive subcommittee.

"Obviously our schedules are a little jammed right now, but there's plenty of time throughout the day for us to sit down and talk about these things," Britton said.

This date in Yankees history
June 23, 1997: David Cone struck out 16 batters in the Yankees' 5-2 victory over the Tigers in Detroit, setting a since-tied franchise record by a right-hander. Michael Pineda equaled Cone's 16 strikeouts on May 10, 2015.