Scott Effross has remained in Triple-A even after concluding his rehab assignment because the Yankees likely weren’t confident with where his stuff was at. His velocity had dipped from where he was when they acquired him from the Cubs in 2022, and while it’s expected for there to be some rust, he wasn’t ready to get Major League hitters out in high-leverage situations just yet. After getting about a week off in early August to reset, Effross has looked brilliant, recording five straight scoreless outings with a 38.1% strikeout rate.
The stuff looks nearly as good as it did when he was one of the better relievers in the game, and the Yankees might be ready to bring him up to get some outs in the Bronx.
Scott Effross Looks Ready To Contribute to the Yankees’ Bullpen
The first few weeks for Scott Effross in Triple-A were rough, as opposing hitters were crushing his diminished stuff to the tune of a 5.52 ERA and 4.67 FIP across 14.2 innings pitched. His fastball wasn’t as firm, his slider wasn’t as sharp, and it looked like he was regressing hard after undergoing both two separate surgeries over the last two seasons. Hitters had an 18.2% Whiff Rate and .397 xwOBACON against Effross over that stretch, meaning they were both making a lot of contact and doing a lot of damage on contact.
Whiffs have never been a huge part of Scott Effross’ game, but he still gets strikeouts because he can steal strikes or get batters to expand once ahead and get an ugly swing. That being said, damage suppression has always been part of his game, and after getting a six-day reset to get back online, Effross hasn’t allowed a run across five appearances. With a .143 AVG allowed and a .170 xwOBACON, they’re not getting any sort of damage contact against him, and we’re also starting to see the velocity tick up a bit.
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Improving stuff and improving results are encouraging, and he looks a lot like the pitcher we acquired from Chicago back in 2022. Scott Effross averaged 90.3 MPH on his sinker and 90.8 MPH on his four-seamer that season, and if the Yankees could get that version of the right-hander their bullpen would get a lot better. It’ll be interesting to see if he comes up in the coming days, especially since he would need to get his feet wet in Major League situations again to make sure that he’s a capable high-leverage option.
His overall numbers with Scranton (3.86 ERA) don’t look very impressive until you realize that the average ERA at the Triple-A level is nearly 5.00. The run environment is unforgiving due to the way the ABS works, and the next step for Scott Effross in my eyes is the Bronx. Perhaps the Yankees want to see how he recovers, maybe even getting him in back-to-back outings before they get him up here, but they have thrown him for multiple innings which is encouraging for his health at the moment.
With how Tommy Kahnle and Jake Cousins have thrown the ball lately, Clay Holmes and Luke Weaver’s overall strong seasons out of the bullpen, and some of the Yankees’ depth arms stepping up to deliver scoreless frames, this bullpen could become a strength again. That’s not even mentioning that both Ian Hamilton and Lou Trivino are working their way back in rehab assignments with Somerset, and the idea that one of Clarke Schmidt or Luis Gil could find themselves in the bullpen come October.
The Yankees will need all hands on deck come October, and Scott Effross could be one of many reinforcements on their way to the Bronx soon.