Less than four months after suffering what some doctors believed could be a career-threatening ankle injury, Joba Chamberlain made his first rehab appearance and could be back with the Yankees in a few weeks.
The right-hander pitched one inning with the Gulf Coast League Yankees yesterday and hit 97 mph, another encouraging sign after Tommy John surgery last summer.
“It’s the start of the rehab process, so hopefully we get him back no later than the first week of August,” general manager Brian Cashman said.
Chamberlain was recovering from last year’s elbow surgery when he suffered a gruesome right ankle dislocation in March, but even after that setback, the right-hander vowed to be back on a mound this season.
Against a rookie-league Pirates lineup in Bradenton, Fla., Chamberlain faced four batters. The leadoff hitter reached second on a pair of errors and scored on a passed ball. Chamberlain got a groundout then struck out the last two he faced.
“It’s just one outing and against a level that you can’t tell much from,” Cashman said. “But that’s what we know he’s capable of throwing.”
Without the ankle injury, which occurred when Chamberlain was jumping on a trampoline with his son during spring training, he almost certainly would already have been in the Yankees’ bullpen.
“I wish we had him sooner,” Cashman said. “He could have been recovered from Tommy John and with us since May or maybe June. But we’ve survived without him.”
The loss of Chamberlain paled in comparison to seeing Mariano Rivera sidelined in early May, but Chamberlain’s return could provide support to a bullpen that has gotten more than expected out of Cody Eppley and Clay Rapada.
“I hope he gives us a boost,” Cashman said. “We just want to keep him healthy and get him up here safely as soon as we can.”
dan.martin@nypost.com