The New York Yankees received a gem of an outing from starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka on Sunday afternoon, as he went eight innings allowing three hits and zero runs.
The Bombers ended a two-game slide against the Toronto Blue Jays to right the ship once more, but they made several moves before the game to supplement injuries woes. Left handed-pitcher Stephen Tarpley was put on the 10-day injured list with an elbow, forcing the Yankees to pull up recent acquisition Joe Mantiply.
Mantiply, 28, earned a 3.72 ERA with 26 strikeouts over 29 innings with Triple-A Louisville. His minimal experience at the top level makes him a wild card but the Yanks will give him a chance to impress once more. The issue being, it’s a forced decision that could backfire.
Alternatively, the Yanks could look to call up youngster Deivi Garcia, the youngest player in their minor league system to reach Triple-A. Garcia has struggled recently, earning a 6.26 ERA with Scranton Wilkes/Barre. He’s pitched 23.0 innings in Triple-A. While his struggles have been apparent, the change in grip this season has been his primary concern. Adapting to the change in the ball will take a bit of time as his breaking ball has lost dip.
However, the Bombers are edging closer to the reality of pulling up him as a relief option. If injuries continue to mount and Mantiply struggles for the Yankees in the bigs, Garcia will be a realistic option given their lack of depth at this point.
Garcia has been adapting and getting better gradually with Scranton, but he’s likely a few more starts away from being considered. Once he has fully adapted manager Aaron Boone might give him the green light as a bullpen arm.
This post was published on 2019-08-12 07:00