The New York Yankees announced a flurry of roster moves as they can now begin officially placing players on the IL, and one of the moves they made was optioning RHP Yerry De Los Santos down to Scranton with their Triple-A affiliate. The right-hander had impressed some in camp with his splitter, but some wild outings down the stretch had put him in a tough situation with the Yankees looking to have some more long-relief options on their roster.
With Brent Headrick and Yoendrys Gomez still on the roster and two open spots remaining in the bullpen, they are in a position to win the final jobs on the 26-man roster. Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone have avoided finalizing their roster as there’s still chatter about a potential trade that could occur to bring in a right-handed bat or an additional arm to round out their bullpen.
Yerry De Los Santos Sent Down, Yankees’ Bullpen Picture Clearing Up
While Yerry De Los Santos had a 1.93 ERA in Spring Training, his 15% walk rate was an indication of poor command, getting him into trouble as he couldn’t locate his fastball consistently. The Yankees also have an MiLB option left for him and can send him down in case an injury arises during the regular season. It won’t be the last the team sees of De Los Santos if he remains healthy, as his stuff can certainly play out of the bullpen due to his sinker-slider-splitter trio.
The Yankees helped the right-hander refine his changeup into a splitter last season, and in the second-half with the Scranton RailRiders, he took off. He still has some growing to do as a pitcher, but he will have opportunities as pitchers are shuttled up and down the roster or injuries eventually turn their ugly heads again. It does leave the Yankees with Brent Headrick and Yoendrys Gomez left at the Major League level, and those two are in a position to make the Opening Day roster.
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Gomez looked sharp in camp, sitting around 94 MPH with his four-seam fastball and not allowing a single run to score across seven appearances. He notably worked as a starting pitcher throughout his Minor League career and has displayed the ability to pitch through a lineup multiple times in one outing, which could be extremely valuable early in the year. He pitched more than 2 IP in a single outing three different times in Spring Training and could provide 3-4 innings if absolutely necessary.
Brent Headrick could have also gained an edge over someone like Yerry De Los Santos due to his background as a starting pitcher, pitching multiple innings in four of his seven outings during Spring Training. He had a 5.40 ERA but struck out 18 batters faced, as his fastball gained a few inches of ride and sat closer to 94 MPH throughout camp. The left-hander even reached 97.6 MPH on his heater, the hardest pitch he had ever thrown in his pro career up to this point.
Barring any final roster moves, the Yankees’ bullpen is set, but Brian Cashman is still lurking and anything could happen in the next few hours.