Just as the Yankees were feeling good about their overall health, Jake Cousins walked off the mound with a trainer in the sixth inning on Thursday afternoon.
Cousins had only thrown six pitches — the last one a slider that struck out Julio Rodriguez — when Aaron Boone and a trainer popped out of the dugout to visit him on the mound.
There were no outward signs of injury — aside from his velocity being down across the board — but after a brief conversation, Cousins left the game with a trainer.
The Yankees later announced that Cousins was dealing with right pec tightness.
In his first appearance since Sunday, Cousins’ first two pitches Thursday were concerning.
He threw a 90.4 mph sinker (down from his season average of 95.1) and then plunked Josh Rojas with a 91.8 mph fastball (down from his season average of 94.9).
Jake Cousins’ outing on Thursday did not go long.
Jake Cousins exited with a trainer after just six pitches.
Cousins then threw four sliders to Rodriguez to strike him out, but they averaged 80.9 mph, down from his season average of 82.1.
At a time when the Yankees are mixing and matching in the late inning without a set closer, Cousins has emerged as a valuable high-leverage arm.
He carried a 2.39 ERA into Thursday, with 52 strikeouts in 37 ⅔ innings.
Lefty Tim Hill entered from the bullpen to replace Cousins, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022 and spent time on the injured list at Triple-A earlier this year with forearm inflammation.
