The Yankees are riding a four-game winning streak behind a convincing road trip to Kansas City this week. They improved to 34-22 to pull within a game and a half of the Rays, who had dropped four in a row after being swept in Baltimore.
It is clear that the Yankees will be approaching the deadline as buyers. They have built a solid cushion in the Wild Card picture and are still likely favorites in the division. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic took an early look at New York’s approach to the deadline, writing that the front office will be part of the bullpen and catch markets. Jon Heyman of The New York Post echoes that latter target, reporting that the Yankees will explore the possibility of a trade for the right-handed catcher.
There is often a greater supply of relief throws than catch at the deadline. Almost every contender will make some sort of bullpen upgrade, even if it’s in the middle. The Yankees were among the most aggressive teams in that group last July, trading for them David Bednar, Camilo Doval again Jake Bird. All three pitchers are still there, but none of them have been the same as expected.
Bednar was good at least last season. He had a rocker go this year in the closer role. He is a solid 12-14 in save opportunities but has allowed a 4.70 earned run average in 23 innings. Bednar’s batting, chasing and ground ball quality are all excellent. He is struggling with a .369 average on balls in play that is likely to drop.
All that said, the Yankees face the same question Devin Williams last year. Williams’ results didn’t keep up with his encouraging numbers, and the Yankees acquired Bednar to push Williams into a setup role. They could look to follow a similar path this summer depending on Bednar’s numbers over the next two months.
Bird spent most of last season in Triple-A after being traded. He also has better strikeout and ground ball numbers than his ERA would suggest, though he has been active without two bad outings in early April against the Marlins and Angels. Doval’s strike rate has dropped and he is working in very low-rated areas. Fernando Cruz, Brent Headrick and Bird are all clearly above him in terms of Aaron Boone’s confidence at this point.
Even if the Yankees target closer, they at least want to add an arm in the middle innings. Kuty float Miami is good Lake Bachar as an under-the-radar pitcher who could make some deadline buzz, though nothing suggests the Yankees are targeting him directly. Bachar has struck out 28% of opponents with a 3.04 ERA in 26 2/3 innings this season. He has been under the club for five seasons and has two years left before he enters arbitration.
Among the Yankees’ current bullpen, four pitchers have a minor league option: Cruz, Headrick, Doval and Bird. The first two certainly won’t be going to Triple-A anytime soon. The Yankees already selected Bird once this year, but recalled him eight days later. He has pitched 10 innings of three-run ball since his return.
They could soon face the question of whether to keep Doval on the MLB roster. He entered this season with four years and 71 days of service. Players with five or more years of service may decline any minor league assignments. Doval needed 101 days on the MLB roster or injured list this year to reach that mark. He’s only a month away from reaching that point, meaning he won’t be able to pick at the deadline if the Yankees don’t send him down before the start of July.
If everyone stays healthy, the pills are long Paul Blackburn again Ryan Yarbrough there may be other candidates to release the list. Each has enough service time to decline a minor league assignment. Blackburn and Yarbrough have each had decent results but haven’t missed at-bats or had big hits, so they could be driven by a high-octane arm.
Inside, few pitchers fit that description more than prospect Carlos Lagrange. The 23-year-old righty had an electric Spring Training where he often logged triple digits. He serves as a starter in Triple-A, where he averages 99.1 mph on his four-seam fastball. Lagrange predicts that he will strike out hitters at a rate of about 30%, but he has yet to work out long-term control issues. He walked over 12% of opponents and averaged just over four innings per start.
General manager Brian Cashman tells Joel Sherman of The New York Post that the front office has had ongoing discussions about moving Lagrange to the bullpen at some point this offseason. That wouldn’t close the door to a long-term swing future — although there are scouts who feel Lagrange is destined for relief — but it would be a reasonable way to break him into MLB this year.
Lagrange clearly doesn’t seem ready to be a big league starting pitcher. There is no room in the rotation right now though. They have excellent rotation with Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, Is Warren, Carlos Rodón again Ryan Weathers. They have to find out Fried Max back before the deadline. Sherman floats the possibility of eventually moving Weathers to rest to focus on his career; the southpaw has already surpassed the 56 1/3 innings he threw last season between the majors and minors with Miami. Clark Schmidt and could make a second-half comeback from elbow surgery and be a relief option.
As for the catching market, the Yankees used a left-handed hitting duo of Austin Wells again JC Escarra the whole season. They did that last year too – Wells, Escarra and Ben Rice they’ve taken all their at-bats to the left side – but they’re not getting the same production this season. Wells and Escarra combined for a .185/.280/.263 line that ranks near the bottom of the MLB. Rice hasn’t caught all year and seems too important a starter/designated hitter to be disruptive.
in Minnesota Ryan Jeffers is an upcoming free agent catcher. He had a good start to the season but recently suffered from hamate. That required surgery that would keep him out until the end of the deadline at best. Cincinnati housing Tyler Stephenson and the Children’ Carson Kelly they will also be free agents but in teams that expect to compete. Pedro Pagés, Christian Vázquez, Jake Rogers and an old friend Kyle Higashioka they are among the most effective types of storage that can be found.
