Every winter, the front office scours the free agent and trade markets, looking to add a couple of relatively unknown and underperforming arms to send to the Matt Blake Relief Pitcher Factory, in the hopes of developing the next Luke Weaver or Paul Blackburn. Last winter, that pitcher was Angel Chivilli. Acquired from the Colorado Rockies in exchange for minor league first baseman T.J. Rumfield — a superfluous bat who was blocked at the Major League level by Ben Rice — Chivilli boasted a less-than-stellar
Major League stat line, with a 6.18 ERA in 73 games across two seasons. However, his young age (he debuted at 21, and 2026 was his age-23 season) and lively fastball supplied optimism that he would be the next Matt Blake success story.
Alas, injuries derailed any chances of Chivilli making a true impact at the Major League level this past season. Even so, during his stints in the Bronx, he flashed enough to understand why the Yankees sought him last winter, and for fans to hope that he could be major part of the big league bullpen over the next couple of years.
Grade: Incomplete
2026 Stats (Yankees): 15 games, 16.2 IP, 3.78 ERA (113 ERA+), 5.74 FIP, 4.79 xFIP, 21.9 K%, 9.6 BB%, -0.2 fWAR, 0.1 rWAR
2027 Contract Status: Entering third year of pre-arbitration eligibility
Following an inconsistent showing in spring training, Chivilli began the 2026 season with the Scranton RailRiders. He immediately began to dominate, and after 8.1 scoreless innings in Triple-A, earned himself a trip to the Bronx when the Yankees needed some extra bullpen arms in the middle of April. Unfortunately for him, after just two appearances, he found himself on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort. The injury kept him off the mound for more than six weeks, as he would not return to the mound until June 10th.
For the second time that season, though, Chivilli did not remain in Scranton for long. After a dominant stretch in which he allowed just two runs in 8.1 innings, he received the call back to the Bronx on July 5th. Over the next month, he became an integral part of the Yankees bullpen, tossing 12 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run, during which time he limited opposing batters to a .146/.196/.167 slash line and struck out a batter per inning. He slowly climbed the bullpen’s circle of trust, and with the Yankees trying to find some reliable setup arms behind Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick, the Yankees sent him in to protect a one-run lead with a runner on third following the Yankees’ six-run inning on August 4th against the Cardinals.
It would turn out to be Chivilli’s worst appearance of the season. He walked the first batter he faced, then a three-run homer, then a single, then another homer, then a single, then (mercifully) a flyout, and then another homer. Just like that, a 7-6 lead become a 13-7 deficit — and, unfortunately, Chivilli’s Yankees season would be over. In need of an extra arm after the trade deadline, the Yankees optioned him back to Scranton; two days later, he found himself on the Triple-A injury list with a posterior elbow injury, and although he did get a clean bill of health on September 21st, by that point, neither the RailRiders nor the Yankees opted to use him.
All in all, it wasn’t exactly a lost season for Chivilli: he was absolutely dominant in the Triple-A bullpen, and outside the six-run inning in which he was left out to dry, he allowed just three runs (only one earned) in 15.2 innings — good for a 0.57 ERA. Furthermore, his 32.6 whiff percentage would have ranked in the 93rd percentile, ahead of Tarik Skubal, Mason Montgomery, Zack Wheeler, and Luke Weaver. There’s reason for optimism here. Unfortunately, given the injuries, it’s hard to justify anything other than an incomplete grade at this time.
See more of the Yankees Roster Report Card series here.
