NEW YORK -- Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodón will begin a minor league rehab assignment Saturday as he works to return from left elbow inflammation.
Rodón is to throw close to 50 pitches for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and could make another rehab start with an increased pitch count.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Rodón could return to the team early in a piggyback situation, similar to Max Fried's return from a bruised left elbow July 22.
Fried has made three starts and thrown 57, 66 and 78 pitches since returning.
"I think he's close to 50, not quite 50 pitches tomorrow, and I think we'll definitely, probably piggyback him at some point," Boone said before the Yankees opened a three-game series with Atlanta on Friday. "It's just do we have him do one more and then do the piggyback at whatever pitch count he's at. That's the most likely right now."
Rodón was placed on the 15-day injured list July 3 after his velocity slightly decreased in five innings during a 5-4, 10-innning loss at Boston on June 28. Rodón had platelet-rich plasma injections. He threw about 40 pitches Monday to a group that included injured slugger Giancarlo Stanton.
"I wouldn't say anything delayed me," Rodón said. "We just had like a plan with the injections."
In the fourth season of a $162 million, six-year contract, Rodón is 4-2 with a 3.30 ERA in nine starts after missing the first month recovering from offseason elbow surgery. He returned in early May and struggled with command in his first three starts. He was 4-0 with a 2.97 ERA in his last six outings before going on the IL.
Rodón had surgery Oct. 15 to remove loose bodies in his left elbow and shave a bone spur. He then had a setback in late March when he felt tightness in his right hamstring while throwing at the Yankees' Florida complex.
He was 18-9 with a 3.09 ERA last season despite an ailing arm. Since joining the Yankees, Rodón is 41-28 with a 3.93 ERA in 88 starts.
The Yankees made the move Friday, retroactive to Tuesday. On Sunday, Rodón allowed two runs and one hit over five innings in a 5-4, 10-inning loss at Boston.