The New York Yankees stopped in Houston to play one game against the Astros before embarking on a lengthy road trip starting with the Cleveland Guardians. The Bombers will face off against Cleveland at 7:10 PM on Friday evening with Gerrit Cole on the mound. On the other side, the Guardians will host Aaron Civale, who’s earned a 7.20 ERA over 40 innings pitch this year.
However, the Yankees made a few roster moves on Friday afternoon, starting with the reinstatement of Aroldis Chapman.
Chapman spent the last few weeks rehabilitating from Achilles tendinitis. He didn’t make a single appearance in June after posting a 9.53 ERA, including six earned runs and 11 hits in May.
On the season, Chapman has earned a 3.86 ERA, one of the worst numbers of his entire career. He will be looking to right the ship after a temulteous start to the 2022 season, but management is optimistic he can make a full recovery and reverse the negative trend.
- Yankees need more from newly acquired bullpen arm
- Yankees are getting incredible value from veteran catcher
- Yankees’ closer has quietly been a huge part of the team’s hot start
The Yankees will shake up how they use Chapman:
In addition, Chapman is open to taking on any new role that manager Aaron Boone may throw his way. With Clay Holmes locking down the high leverage closer spot, Chapman could be used against situational lefties or even as a setup man in the 8th inning. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him feature in low leverage closing spots as well when the Yankees have a significant lead.
The second roster move the Yankees executed was sending Miguel Castro to the paternity list. Luckily, Castro isn’t going through any injury issues but simply becoming a father, which is exciting news.
This season, Castro has earned a 3.51 ERA with 9.47 strikeouts per nine and a 45.6% ground ball rate. Lately, Castro has been using his slider far more frequently, elevating his usage to 43.8% on the year, the highest in his career. Castro isn’t throwing his sinker as often as he used to at 36.7%. His best pitch is seemingly his slider.
In fact, opposing hitters are hitting just .191 against his slider this season whereas they are hitting .333 against his sinker. This suggested an obvious change in pitch allocation, which has served him well.