After Tuesday’s 5-4 walk-off win over the Seattle Mariners, the New York Yankees made a few roster moves. The team sent down Tyler Wade to make room for Jonathan Loaisiga.
ESPN’s Coley Harvey reported that Loaisiga was in the clubhouse on Tuesday, and is expected to pitch on Wednesday.
Wade still can’t hit MLB pitching
Tyler Wade has shown time and time again that he cannot hit MLB pitching. The Yankees front office certainly thinks he can, and he spends time up even when there aren’t any injuries. That shows the Yankees “faith” in him.
This year has been a slight improvement from past years, but certainly nothing to boast about. He’s batting .204, his best year of three in the MLB (.155 in 2017, .167 in 2018).
He can’t show enough consistency at the plate to get constant playing time and a spot on the MLB roster. His baserunning and defense is sure valuable, but it isn’t enough for him to keep a spot on the roster.
A reminder why Loaisiga is up
Jonathan Loaisiga is coming up to replace the injured James Paxton, and will start on Wednesday against the Mariners. Paxton is on the IL with knee inflammation.
Loaisiga, has an ERA of 2.70 in three Yankee appearances this season (two starts). In two games started for the Railriders (AAA), he has actually pitched worse then in the bigs. His ERA is at 7.20 through 10 innings.
Despite struggling at AAA, Loaisiga will be coming up fully rested. He was expected to start on Sunday against the Syracuse Mets, but was scratched after Paxton’s injury.
The hope is that Loaisiga will only be needed for two or three starts before Paxton is ready again.
But for the meantime, the roster carousel continues as more and more Yankees hit the IL and different players are needed for different places. The Yankees need to just keep grinding along and do the best they can. 21-14 ain’t too shabby, that’s for sure.