The Yankees are riding a four-game win streak after a convincing road sweep in Kansas City. They’ve improved to 34-22 to pull back within a game and a half of the Rays, who have dropped four straight after being swept in Baltimore.
It’s clear the Yankees will be approaching deadline season as buyers. They’ve built a strong cushion in the Wild Card picture and are probably still the favorites in the division. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic took an early look at New York’s likely deadline approach, writing that the front office figures to be involved in the bullpen and catching markets. Jon Heyman of The New York Post echoes the latter target, reporting that the Yankees will evaluate trade possibilities for a right-handed hitting catcher.
There’s generally a far larger supply of relief pitching than catching at the deadline. Almost every contender will make some kind of bullpen upgrade, even if just in the middle innings. The Yankees were among the most aggressive teams on that front last July, trading for David Bednar, Camilo Doval and Jake Bird. All three pitchers are still around, but none has been as consistent as hoped.
Bednar was at least excellent down the stretch last season. He’s had a rockier go this year in the closer role. He’s a solid 12-14 in save chances but has allowed a 4.70 earned run average across 23 innings. Bednar’s strikeout, chase and ground-ball rates are all excellent. He’s being plagued largely by a .369 average on balls in play that’ll probably come down.
All that said, the Yankees faced a similar question with Devin Williams a year ago. Williams’ results never wound up matching his more encouraging underlying 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 the trade. He also has better strikeout and ground-ball marks than his ERA would suggest, though he has mostly been effective aside from two poor outings in early April against the Marlins and Angels. Doval’s strikeout rate has plummeted and he’s working in low-leverage spots. Fernando Cruz, Brent Headrick and Bird are all clearly ahead of him in Aaron Boone’s confidence at this point.
Regardless of whether the Yankees target a closer, they at least figure to add an arm in the middle innings. Kuty floated Miami righty Lake Bachar as an under-the-radar pitcher who could generate some deadline buzz, although there’s nothing to suggest the Yankees have targeted him specifically. Bachar has fanned 28% of opponents with a 3.04 ERA across 26 2/3 innings. He’s under club control for five seasons and still two years from qualifying for arbitration.
Among the Yankees’ current bullpen, four pitchers have a minor league option: Cruz, Headrick, Doval and Bird. The first two certainly aren’t going to Triple-A anytime soon. The Yankees already optioned Bird once this year, but they recalled him eight days later. He has pitched 10 innings of three-run ball since coming back up.
They could soon face a question on whether to keep Doval on the MLB roster. He entered the season with four years and 71 days of service. Players with five-plus service years can refuse any minor league assignments. Doval needed 101 days on the MLB roster or injured list to reach that mark. He’s just over a month away from hitting that point, meaning he’d no longer be optionable at the deadline if the Yankees don’t send him down before early July.
If everyone stays healthy, long relievers Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough would be the other candidates to push off the roster. They each have sufficient service time to decline a minor league assignment. Blackburn and Yarbrough have managed decent results but don’t miss bats or have huge stuff, so either could be bumped for a higher-octane arm.
Internally, few pitchers fit that description more than prospect Carlos Lagrange. The 23-year-old righty had an electric Spring Training in which he was routinely in the triple digits. He’s working as a starter in Triple-A, where he’s averaging 99.1 mph on his four-seam fastball. Lagrange is predictably striking out hitters at a near-30% rate, but he has yet to solve longstanding control woes. He has walked more than 12% of opponents and is only averaging a little 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 season. That wouldn’t close the door on a long-term rotation future — though there are some evaluators who feel Lagrange is ultimately destined for relief — but would be the sensible path for breaking him into MLB this year.
Lagrange doesn’t seem quite ready to be a major league starting pitcher, but his huge stuff could play in relief right away. There’s no room in the rotation right now regardless. The Yankees have an excellent rotation with Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, Carlos Rodón and Ryan Weathers. They should get Max Fried back before the deadline. Sherman floats the possibility of eventually moving Weathers to relief to keep an eye on his workload; the southpaw has already surpassed the 56 1/3 innings he threw last season between the Majors and minors with Miami. Clarke Schmidt could also make a second half return from elbow surgery and be a relief option.
As for the catching market, the Yankees have used the left-handed hitting duo of Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra all season. They did that last year as well — Wells, Escarra and Ben Rice took all their catching at-bats from the left side — but they’re not getting the same production. Wells and Escarra have combined for a .185/.280/.263 line that ranks near the bottom of MLB. Rice hasn’t caught all year and seems too valuable at first base/designated hitter to disrupt.
Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers is the top impending free agent catcher. He was off to a monster start but recently suffered a hamate fracture. That required surgery that’ll keep him out until close to the deadline in the best case scenario. Cincinnati’s Tyler Stephenson and the Cubs’ Carson Kelly are also impending free agents but on teams that expect to contend. Pedro Pagés, Christian Vázquez, Jake Rogers and old friend Kyle Higashioka are among the righty-hitting backup types who could be available.
