The New York Yankees' bullpen has stepped up despite a flurry of injuries early on in the year. Despite not having Chad Green, Luis Gil, and Aroldis Chapman due to injury, the Yankees' relievers stepped up and have helped to keep the good times rolling while their teammates are on the mend. Manager Aaron Boone provided a key update on Chapman's injury on Thursday, indicating that the flamethrowing closer would be headed for a bullpen session later this week ahead of a potential return to the mound in the near future, per Marly Rivera.

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Chapman will throw a bullpen session on Saturday in what was the first real update on his status since the Yankees' closer hit the 15-day IL with an Achilles injury. It seems the time away has helped with his recovery and he'll make the first step in his return to game action over the weekend.

Prior to getting shelved, Chapman had pitched some of the worst few innings of his entire career in the Bronx. The 34-year-old had failed to throw a scoreless inning in any of his previous five outings before hitting the IL. During that span, Chapman pitched 3.2 innings, surrendering six earned runs from May 11-22. He was placed on the IL after that stretch and has not featured since.

Boone didn't explicitly state when he expects Chapman to be activated from the IL, but this is certainly an important step for the reliever in his return to the Yankees. On the year, Chapman has a 3.86 ERA with 9 saves in 17 appearances, logging 15 strikeouts in 14.0 innings on the mound.