Who Gets the Final Yankees Roster Spot?

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

As spring training wound down, New York Yankees beat writer Bryan Hoch sent a tweet saying INF Tyler Wade and pitcher Michael King made the team’s Opening Day roster.

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Yes, one spot remains. With lefty reliever Justin Wilson out for the short-term, it could make sense to replace him with another pitcher. Lucas Luetge immediately comes to mind. The 34 year old Luetge hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2015, but he had an impressive spring. He struck out 18 over 10.2 innings and allowed only a pair of runs. The Yankees could do much worse than Luetge.

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On the other hand, with everyone fresh, the team could decide to add an extra bench player for a few days until the team needs an additional arm. Thairo Estrada may be a good option, adding another infielder to the mix. Estrada made his presence known at the end of camp, hitting home runs in back to back games. As of this moment, Wade is the only backup infielder on the squad.

The rest of the team is ready to go, the Yankees are back in New York. And FANS WILL BE THERE! I love Opening Day. 😎

UPDATE – According to Max Goodman of Sports Illustrated, Luetge appeared to be at Yankee Stadium with the team this afternoon. Stay tuned.

And it’s officially official. Lucas Luetge has indeed made the Yankees 26 man roster.

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What a Relief? Yankees Hurlers Looking for Roster Spots

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

A few days ago, we looked at position players looking to find a spot on the Yankees bench on the Opening Day roster. This time, we will focus on the back end of the starting rotation and relievers searching for spots in the team’s bullpen. Let’s get after it!

  • Rotation

The top four spots of the Yankees rotation are accounted for. Gerrit Cole, Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon and Jordan Montgomery are cemented in the starting rotation. That leaves Deivi Garcia, Michael King and Domingo German to vie for the fifth spot until Luis Severino returns. All three are having very solid springs to this point. Based on performance in spring games so far, I would give Germán the early edge in this competition. However, with a full 162 game schedule on deck, the Yankees may go with a six-man rotation for the bulk of 2021. With a 60 game schedule, nobody reached close to 100 innings last year. The team will not overwork their valued arms. We will see if the team wants to hang on to the embattled Germán. He missed the 2020 season while suspended for a highly publicized domestic violence incident.

    • Bullpen

Aroldis Chapman, Chad Green, Darren O’Day and Justin Wilson have solid footing. Also established is Zack Britton, who will miss most, if not all, of the season’s first half while recovering from elbow surgery. This leaves three spots to fight for, plus Britton’s spot for the first few months. Let’s reveal the candidates.

Luis Cessa – The soon to be 29 year old Cessa is a nice guy most Yankees fans seem to hate. Not because he’s a bad guy, but because he always seems to give up runs. In reality, Cessa had a pretty good 2020 season. Over his sixteen appearances, he allowed runs in only four. But when he’s bad, he’s BAD. In his lousy four outings, he gave up a total of ten runs. He’s probably not going anywhere. Every team needs a guy to mop-up, and Cessa is out of options.

Jonathan Loaisiga – “Johnny Lasagna” is having himself a spring so far. Six scoreless innings, two hits allowed and 5 K’s. The stuff has always been there for the 26 year old Loaisiga. It’s been a matter of harnessing it. I have always seen a bit of 1996 Mariano Rivera in Loaisiga, especially with the rising fastball. I think it’s time to focus on keeping him in the bullpen because his stuff plays better in relief. He can give multiple innings, which gives him even more valuable.

Lucas Luetge – The lefthanded Luetge hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2015, but seems to be opening eyes this spring. In four exhibition game appearances, the soon to be 34 year old, has struck out ten hitters over 4 innings. With Zack Britton sidelined, the Yankees could use another lefty to step in. Luetge is a guy to keep watch of.

Nestor Cortes, Jr. – I’ll admit it, I’m a fan of Nestor. His fastball MAYBE touches 90-91, but the life it has on it makes it look closer to 95. Cortes has proven himself in Triple-A, but the success hasn’t translated in the majors in any way. As a member of the Mariners, he was hammered to the tune of a 15.26 ERA (13 ER in 7.2 innings) in 2020. If the Yankees have him on their roster during the regular season, it’s not a good sign. He’s filler for Triple-A.

Albert Abreu – It’s hard to believe the 25 year old Abreu has only one option year remaining, and the Yankees are surely taking a long look at him this spring. It’s been rocky going so far (5 ER over 1.2 innings), but there’s still plenty of time to assess. I am guessing the Yankees will use that last option to let him get reps and stretched out in Scranton. If injuries hit like last year, he could be an option for the rotation.

Nick Nelson – Nelson, also 25 years old, made his big league debut in last year’s tire-fire of an abbreviated season. He made it into eleven games, mostly in mop-up duty. Still, these reps are valuable. Nelson posted a 4.79 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 20.2 innings. Like Abreu, Nelson are destined be a member of the RailRiders rotation to get experience and stretched-out as a starter.

Kyle Barraclough (R), Tyler Lyons (L), and Nick Goody (R) are options for the Yankees if everything goes to hell in a handbasket. All are better suited as Triple-A filler.

Thanks for reading, have a great day! 😎

 

Pining for Spots on Yankees Bench

Posted on by Charlie Ricker

Ayeeee it’s time to get this thing cranked back up! I just renewed my WordPress plan and my domain for another year, so y’all are stuck with me! We’re almost in the middle of spring training so I want to get some good content out.

The New York Yankees lineup is locked and loaded, so we will look at guys battling for spots on the bench for Opening Day. The season begins in three weeks, players looking to head north when camp breaks are starting to feel urgency to produce.

  • Brett Gardner – This one is easy, and not much of a battle. Yankees GM Brian Cashman brought him back to be the fourth outfielder and will get a fair number of at bats. At age 37, Gardner will benefit from a reduced role and be more fresh for the second half of the season. Guys in the clubhouse love him, he’s a leader. Gardy will earn his keep and paycheck.

The Yankees are even testing Brett out in right-field.

  • Tyler Wade – I’m fairly sure the guy most Yankees fans would like to fire into the sun is Wade. Always a reliable defender and threat on the bases, Tyler’s hitting just hasn’t taken off. In Triple-A Scranton Wilkes Barre, he hit a composite .287 in just over a thousand at bats over three seasons. Tyler’s success in AAA hasn’t carried over to the majors. Wade has one option year left, so he could sent to Scranton if the Yankees keep Derek Dietrich. However, I think Wade will stick as the backup infielder – in large part because he can play shortstop, and Dietrich cannot.
  • Derek Dietrich – The 31 year old lefty batting Dietrich is on his fourth team in four years. He may have an edge over Tyler Wade because he’s got more pop in his bat and can play several positions, including first base. The downside with Derek is he’s pretty much all or nothing with the stick. His lone hit in spring training? A two run bomb. On the upside, his gold chain would impress Mr. T and he resembles John Cena.
  • Jay Bruce – Bruce hasn’t wasted any time opening eyes in Tampa. Over six spring games, the 33 year old has five hits in 13 at bats (.385), with a pair of HR’s. In the field, Bruce Almighty can cover the corner OF spots as well as first base. I give Bruce the edge over Dietrich based on overall track record.
  • Mike Ford – There’s no sugar-coating things, the 2020 season was abysmal for Ford. He was a nice story two years ago filling in for Voit, but the carriage turned back into a pumpkin. Ford registered ten hits in 74 at bats (.135) and just two home runs. Roster spots are scarce and it’s likely manager Aaron Boone will carry thirteen pitchers, so the team needs a versatile bench. Ford only plays first base, so it limits things. With a pair of option years left, Ford can work to get himself back on track in Triple-A.
  • Thairo Estrada – The young infielder from Venezuela has enjoyed a couple cups of coffee with the Yankees. He spent last season on the taxi-squad and made it into 26 games on the expanded roster. With only eight hits in 48 at bats, he seems destined for Scranton unless Yankees decide to send Tyler Wade down. It’s Estrada’s last option year, so the team will want to get him back on track away from the distractions of New York.
  • Kyle Higashioka – No battle here, either. Brian Cashman said Gary Sánchez is his starting catcher, I put Higgy here. With Robinson Chirinos now out with a fractured wrist, Higashioka easily assumes the backup catcher role. He earned his money last year, I believe Chirinos is either Triple-A filler or will be cut.
  • Mike Tauchman – Tauchman enjoyed a productive first year in Pinstripes, hitting thirteen tanks in a little over a half season. Last year, the power disappeared completely. Perhaps it’s a fluke, but it’s hard to tell which Mike Tauchman is the real thing. He can cover all outfield spots, which is nice. With no option years left, if he struggles to hit, the Yankees will soon have choices to make. 
  • Miguel Andújar – I am ashamed to admit I unintentionally omitted Miggy from the original draft. But Andújar has an outside chance to make the club, just because he bats from the right side, and everyone else on the list except Higashioka and Estrada bats lefthanded. I think there’s a better chance of him being traded. Andújar was not pleased about being sent to the alternate site last year, and his agent took it to the press. Airing grievances through the media, especially when you’re a Yankee is not a good look. I think he eventually gets a fresh start elsewhere.

Next time, we’ll see how things shape up for the fifth spot in the rotation and last spots in the bullpen. Have a great day!