All hands are on deck for the Yankees as they look to salvage the third game of a three-game set in the Bronx against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. With Ryan Weathers being pushed back until Monday (likely to save some bullets), the Yankees are promoting Elmer Rodríguez as tonight’s 27th man to start the nightcap as part of a trio of roster moves.
Rodríguez has made four starts at the major league level this year, pitching to a 4.76 ERA (90 ERA+) and 5.16 FIP in 17 innings. Last we saw
him, he was used as a four-inning spot starter to push the rotation back a day on June 21 against the Reds, where he did well until falling apart in the fifth.
Since being sent back down, ERC has allowed four runs in 15.1 innings as he awaited his next opportunity, one that is now staring him in the face against the back-to-back defending champions on national television. And while this could just be a one-day promotion out of necessity to keep everyone on schedule, there’s a chance that Rodríguez stays after this.
As you might recall, the Yankees went into the All-Star break without a conventional fifth starter. They used a successful bullpen game in the finale of the four-game set in Tampa last week, but Aaron Boone wasn’t willing to tip his hand about when the Yankees would need a fifth starter next weekend. Due to the lack of off-days after this upcoming Thursday and the restrictions on minor league call-ups in a season, you might see Rodríguez stay up until Max Fried or Carlos Rodón is ready to return.
This move alone would be noteworthy, but the Yankees are also swapping the back of their bullpen. Jake Bird, fresh off a disastrous eighth inning which saw him give up five earned runs, is being optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His Yankees tenure has been an abject disaster over the past 12 months, as his ERA ballooned to 5.93 in 30.1 innings after Sunday’s bludgeoning.
Replacing Bird will be Kervin Castro, a longtime minor league journeyman who’s been in four organizations and thrown 27.2 major league innings, including two for the Yankees earlier this year in a loss to Milwaukee. He’s been a rock down in Triple-A, pitching to a sub-2 ERA across 55 games and 73 innings over the last two seasons after being a 2023 MiLB Rule 5 pick. He fits the bill as a Quad-A pitcher, but the Yankees will need a fresh body for tonight after using Bird, Angel Chivilli, Tim Hill, and Camilo Doval in the first leg of this doubleheader.
One might wonder why Castro came up instead of more trusted relievers Yerry De los Santos or Yovanny Cruz, but the simple answer might be the minor-league option rule. De los Santos has already been optioned three times, while Cruz has been optioned twice. Five times is the absolute maximum in a season before a player has to be exposed to waivers, so the Yankees might not want to burn one for a one-day promotion as part of a doubleheader.
