New York ? Kevin Brown will miss his scheduled start Monday, and rookie Sean Henn will take his place when the New York Yankees open a series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Brown, who has chronic back trouble, left Wednesday’s game against Pittsburgh in the fifth inning because of back spasms.

Yankees manager Joe Torre said the 40-year-old right-hander felt better Saturday, and it was too early to tell whether Brown would go on the disabled list for the second time this year.

“If he’s going to be all right for the start after this one, you’d rather have him for that, but I think we have to be reasonably sure that’s going to be the case.”

Henn was to work out Saturday with Triple-A Columbus and then join the Yankees, who will have to make a roster move. He will combine with Chien-Ming Wang to temporarily give New York two rookies in its starting rotation.

Henn made his major-league debut May 4 at Tampa Bay when Randy Johnson had a stiff groin. Henn, 24, allowed six runs, seven hits and two walks in 21â3 innings, throwing 72 pitches. Tampa Bay won 11-8, leaving Henn 0-1 with a 19.29 earned-run average.

Henn was brought up from Double-A for that start. Since then, he’s gone 4-2 with a 3.19 ERA in eight starts for Triple-A Columbus.

“He impressed us two springs ago more than he impressed us this past spring. I think this past spring he was trying to impress us, and that was the problem,” Torre said. “I like his presence. He’s a little sneaky, and he’s left-handed, which is certainly an advantage. I think he’s going to be a big-league pitcher, there’s no question in my mind.”