Alexander Wilson
The New York Yankees continued trimming their spring roster on Saturday morning, reassigning four pitchers to minor league camp. Right-hander Michael Arias, left-hander Kyle Carr, right-hander Dylan Coleman, and right-hander Dom Hamel are all headed back down as the club sharpens its focus on the Opening Day roster.
None of the moves are surprising. The bullpen picture has been coming into focus for weeks, and the quartet of arms simply could not force the conversation at the big league level. Here is a quick look at where each pitcher stands.
The Numbers
Arias, 24, had a rough go of it this spring. The right-hander posted a 23.63 ERA over just 2.2 innings, giving up hits in bunches and failing to miss bats consistently. There is still development time ahead for him, but he was not close to cracking the roster this spring.
Hamel, 27, was similarly unimpressive. The right-hander threw 4.2 innings with a 7.71 ERA, leaving the Yankees with little reason to keep him in the big league mix. At 27, the margin for error gets thinner, and he did not help himself this spring.
Coleman, 29, was the quiet bright spot in this group. He tossed two scoreless frames and looked sharp doing it. At his age with major league experience under his belt, there is a path back if the Yankees need a bullpen arm mid-season and he continues pitching well in the minors.
Keep an Eye on Carr
The most interesting name here is Kyle Carr. The 23-year-old left-hander posted a solid 2.25 ERA over four innings this spring and quietly made a case for himself as a future bullpen contributor. Check his Fangraphs pitching profile and you will see the foundation of a legitimate arm.
The Yankees selected Carr in the third round of the 2023 draft, and his development arc has been encouraging. He operates with a fastball that can reach the mid-90s alongside a sharp slider, giving him a two-pitch combination that can play against left-handed hitters at the professional level. Beyond those two weapons, Carr also carries a bowling ball sinker that has helped him generate a combined 50.7% ground ball rate, along with a sweeper and changeup that round out a starter-caliber arsenal.
The knock on Carr has always been command. He has shown the ability to attack hitters but has struggled when the competition level ramps up, as Double-A hitters exposed those command lapses late in the 2025 season. The spring performance suggests he has been working on it. A full, healthy season at the upper levels of the minors could put him firmly on the radar as a lefty specialist option by the second half of 2026.
The Bigger Picture
The Yankees are not losing anything they expected to keep here. The bullpen will be built around proven arms, and these four pitchers were never realistic candidates for Opening Day roles. Roster cuts at this stage of spring are routine housekeeping.
That said, Carr is worth tracking. The Yankees do not have many promising left-handed arms in the system, and a 23-year-old with that kind of stuff and a solid spring is not someone to dismiss. If he can clean up his command at Double-A or Triple-A this year, he could be knocking on the door sooner than people expect.
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