Yankees top prospect Everson Pereira’s season over due to elbow surgery
BOSTON — For the second straight year, a Yankees outfield prospect has undergone surgery on his UCL.
Everson Pereira will be sidelined for the rest of the season after recently having internal brace surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right elbow.
The 23-year-old outfielder had been playing through some elbow discomfort at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before imaging revealed a tear.
“Unfortunate,” manager Aaron Boone before Friday’s 8-1 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. “But similar to Jasson [Dominguez], this is something we fully expect him to come back from. Just start the rehab process now.”
Pereira, who struggled in a late-season call-up last year, was batting .265 with 10 home runs and a .859 OPS at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season.
Last September, it was Dominguez who needed UCL surgery, though he also received the internal brace that helped expedite his recovery.
Dominguez was just returned from his rehab assignment and optioned to Triple-A, providing outfield depth for whenever the Yankees need it.
The right-handed hitting Pereira figured to be next in line after Dominguez on the 40-man roster, but now he will spend the rest of the season recovering from the elbow surgery.
There was also the potential for Pereira to be a trade chip this summer, which still may be the case, though it is unclear how the surgery may impact his value.
In 27 games with the Yankees last season, Pereira hit .151 with a .427 OPS and 40 strikeouts in 103 plate appearances.
“No doubt he struggled last year, especially when he came up,” Boone said. “I think just struggled getting acclimated to the big leagues, too. Even initially a little bit overwhelmed by the big leagues and all that goes with it. Kind of took his lumps last year. Even in the first part of spring training, I still felt like he was a little wide-eyed and unsure.
“I got really excited about the second half of spring training that he had with us. I felt like he really started to develop a really good process, got to a good place mentally and then before he got hurt, was really starting to play really well.
“It’s a talented guy that, this isn’t something that’s going to hurt his career too much because he should come back full strength from this.”
Luis Gil was fired up for his first taste of pitching at Fenway Park and it showed, for better and for worse.
Across five innings of one-run ball, Gil’s fastball had an extra gear to it, averaging 98 mph (up from his season average of 96.5) and hitting 100 mph four times.
But he also struggled with his command, walking four batters and throwing only 56 of his career-high 104 pitches for strikes.
“A lot of adrenaline tonight,” Gil said through an interpreter. “Ever since I was a little kid, [I was] watching Yankees-Red Sox. … Maybe that also made me throw a lot of pitches because of the level of energy and intensity out there. But good experience.”
Anthony Volpe was shaken up after stealing third base in the fifth inning, but stayed in the game after being tended to by a trainer and Boone.
“I think he cut himself a little bit above the ear just going in there,” Boone said.
For the first time this season, Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo swapped corners of the outfield in Friday’s lineup, with Soto playing left field and Verdugo right field.
Boone said it was something the Yankees had talked about in spring training, given Verdugo’s experience playing a tricky right field at Fenway Park.
It’s possible that Giancarlo Stanton could see his first action of the season in the outfield in one of the final two games of the series, which would allow Soto to DH.
Friday marked the latest in a season the Yankees and Red Sox have played their first game since 1996, when they did not meet until their 80th game on July 1.