Britton diagnosed with bruise after liner hits wrist

TAMPA, Fla. -- Tests proved negative for Yankees left-hander Zack Britton on Wednesday after he was struck in the right wrist by a line drive during live batting practice at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Britton was in obvious discomfort but walked off the field under his own power, accompanied by athletic trainer Gene Monahan.

“Yeah, that was good news to get,” said manager Aaron Boone following the Yankees' 3-1 loss to the Marlins. “Before the game, I knew the X-ray was negative. Heard about the CT scan in the middle of the game. That was a little bit of a relief, obviously.”

The ball was hit by catcher Erik Kratz.

“It’s a bad feeling,” Kratz said. “You don’t ever want to hit someone, competing against another guy. It’s especially worse when it’s your teammate.”

Cessa keeps going strong
Reliever Luis Cessa continues to impress this spring. The right-hander struck out seven in 3 2/3 innings of scoreless work on Wednesday, giving up just one hit. He did not walk a batter and lowered his ERA to 2.89 in Grapefruit League play.

“Cessa is really good,” Boone said. “He gets in a rhythm with that slider; it’s a wipeout pitch for him. And I thought as the outing went on, where he was in a really good rhythm, he was able to start mixing in his other pitches, using his fastball, too, a little bit. But he threw really well.”

Paxton resumes throwing
Left-hander James Paxton resumed throwing for the first time since undergoing back surgery, reporting no issues after making 25 tosses at a distance of 60 feet. He has not thrown a ball since December due to his back issues, and had not been able to throw without pain since September.

"Just real easy, getting through Day 1, making sure everything felt good,” Paxton said. “It was all great. The back didn't hurt at all. I'm just working on getting my arm feeling normal again. I haven't thrown in a long time, but that'll come with playing catch."

Paxton said that his best-case scenario would be to resume pitching Major League games by the middle of May.

Stanton takes swings
Also on Wednesday, Giancarlo Stanton participated in live BP for the first time since sustaining a Grade 1 right calf strain in late February. His at-bats included an opposite-field homer off Britton.

Up next
The Yankees continue their trip to the east coast of Florida on Thursday, when they play the Nationals in West Palm Beach at 1:05 p.m. ET. Right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga will make his third Grapefruit League start and fifth appearance, having already recorded 11 strikeouts over seven innings. The defending World Series champion Nationals will counter with left-hander Patrick Corbin. Watch the game live on MLB.TV.