The New York Yankees have been facing a bit of adversity with their starting rotation and bullpen the past few weeks. The starters have hit a wall of fatigue, as represented by Nestor Cortes’s tumultuous outing against the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.
The bullpen has been adequate, but with Ron Marinaccio suffering from a “dead arm” injury, the unit could use a bit of support. Luckily, the Yankees have two players on the way back who can help in both areas.
- Yankees’ super-utility man is seeing his numbers plummet back down to Earth
- Yankees’ $98 million slugger in the middle of another ice-cold stretch
- Yankees could see this interesting pitching prospect get an MLB promotion
Per the Yankees:
Today, the Yankees transferred the rehab assignment of RHP Domingo Germán from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Additionally, RHP Jonathan Loáisiga commences a rehab assignment with Single-A Tampa.
German has already enjoyed three rehab assignments with Tampa and Somerset, but he’s preparing for his fourth outing in Triple-A with Scranton. German was impressive in his first game back, tossing three scoreless innings with single-A Tampa last week. He gave up just one earned run over 7.1 innings of action with Somerset over two starts.
German made his last major league appearance in 2021 with the Yankees before being shut down with shoulder issues. He pitched 98.1 innings, posting a 4.58 ERA and 8.97 strikeouts per nine. His velocity was down quite a bit from his best season back in 2018. However, there’s no doubt he can make an impact moving forward, whether it be as a middle innings reliever or back-end starter to supplement fatigue.
Yankees are also getting closer to returning Jonathan Loáisiga, who is starting a rehab assignment with Single-A Tampa. Loáisiga made 18 appearances this season before shoulder discomfort sent him to the injured list. He recorded a 7.02 ERA, 9.72 strikeouts per nine, and a 59.6% left on base rate. The Yankees were asking Loáisiga to throw a sinker far more often, and opposing batters we’re hitting .333 against it.
Hopefully, he can build upon his sinker and lower that batting average significantly. However, he does feature a great curveball and change-up, but his fastball has been inadequate at times.