TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees left-hander Zack Britton had surgery Monday to remove a bone chip from his pitching elbow.

The reliever is likely to be out until at least May and perhaps until summer. The team has not specified a timeframe.

Yankees head team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad operated at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

“Want to thank Dr. Ahmad and his staff for their excellent work today,” Britton wrote on Twitter. “Excited to start the process of getting myself ready to rejoin the boys.”

Left-hander Aroldis Chapman is the Yankees’ closer, and Manager Aaron Boone said he will mix and match during the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Boone has said right-hander Chad Green, side-arming right-hander Darren O’Day, right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga and left-hander Justin Wilson are options.

“I think it comes down to the incision being healed,” Boone said “That’ll tell him when he can start playing catch and start the ramp-up process. So don’t want to really put a timetable on it.”

Chapman is suspended for the first two games of the season by Major League Baseball for throwing a 101 mph fastball near the head of Tampa Bay’s Mike Brosseau on Sept. 1.

Britton, 33, is a two-time All-Star who was 1-2 with a 1.89 ERA and eight saves in 20 appearances during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. He filled in as closer for the first 3 1/2 weeks while Chapman missed 21 games recovering from COVID-19.

Catcher Robinson Chirinos is scheduled for surgery on his right wrist on Tuesday with Dr. Douglas Carlan in Tampa, Florida, six days after he was by a pitch from Pittsburgh’s Blake Cederlind. Boone said it appears estimated recovery time is 4 to 6 weeks.

Infielder-outfielder Miguel Andujar is receiving treatment for a muscle strain in in his right hand, and a nerve issue is being monitored, according to Boone.

BREWERS: Ryan Braun says he’s strongly leaning toward retirement, but the Milwaukee Brewers’ home-run leader isn’t ready to make any decision regarding his future.

Braun visited the Brewers’ spring training site Monday and said he hasn’t picked up a bat since the end of the 2020 season. The 2011 NL MVP became a free agent when the Brewers declined to exercise a $15 million mutual option in his contract last October.

“I’m strongly leaning in the direction of being done as an active player,” the 37-year-old Braun said. “But I think you can always push that decision back. I’m still young enough, still working out, still in shape. If something were to change, I might as well leave that door open as long as possible.”

Braun has spent his entire major league career with the Brewers and said that “I can’t foresee a scenario in which I play for any other major league team.”

Last season, Braun batted a career-low .233 with seven homers and 27 RBI in 39 games while dealing with a back issue. He came on strong late in the season and had a .958 OPS in September.

His back issues prevented him from playing in the Brewers’ first-round playoff loss to the eventual World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Once the regular season starts and I’m able to watch some games, I feel like that’s when I’ll actually miss the game itself,” Braun said. “I’m kind of interested to see how I feel, what it feels like. Obviously I’ve never experienced it before. Time will tell.”

Braun made his debut with Milwaukee in 2007. His 352 homers as a Brewer are the most of anyone in franchise history.

He ranks second among all Brewers in career RBI (1,154), extra-base hits (809), total bases (3,525) and doubles (408). He ranks third in runs (1,080), hits (1,963), triples (49), stolen bases (216) and walks (586).

ANGELS: In the matchup of baseball’s most prominent two-way players, Shohei Ohtani had it all his way against Michael Lorenzen.

Ohtani hit two home runs off Lorenzen, earning plenty of praise from the Cincinnati Reds’ pitcher/outfielder.

“If I have to pick a favorite player, it’s him,” Lorenzen said.

Off to a sizzling spring start at the plate for the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani lofted an opposite-field drive to left in the first inning. The next time up, Ohtani went way deeper to left-center.

Ohtani is 9 for 16 with three homers. The 2018 AL Rookie of the Year has made two starts this spring – one strong, the other shaky – while showing excellent velocity.

Ohtani hit .286 with 18 homers in 2019 but didn’t pitch while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He struggled during the 2020 pandemic-shortened season, batting .190 as a designated hitter and making two brief appearances on the mound.

Lorenzen has pitched over 444 innings in the majors. He’s played more than 30 times in the outfield, including six starts in center, and is a career .235 hitter with seven home runs.

KEVIN KIERMAIER doubled twice and Randy Arozarena doubled for Tampa Bay in a 3-2 win over the Red Sox at Port Charlotte, Florida.

Michael Chavis hit his fourth spring home run for Boston. Nick Pivetta worked four innings, allowing a run and four hits. Hirokazu Sawamura walked three, one with the bases loaded, in the fifth.