In the wake of the Giancarlo Stanton and Ryan Weathers news from over the weekend, the Yankees are pivoting to take a minor gamble on one of their new additions.
Joel Sherman reported on Monday that veteran right-hander Justin Topa is getting called up to the majors merely 10 days after signing a minor-league deal with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. He allowed two hits and recorded two strikeouts over two innings in his last outing against the Charlotte Knights and is finishing August
with a 1.13 ERA.
While pitching hasn’t necessarily been the main concern for this team heading into September, the Yankees are moving quickly to fill an anticipated opening after Weathers hit the IL on Sunday and the news was confirmed on Saturday of Stanton injuring his left calf while on a rehab assignment. Despite Sherman’s announcement, the Yankees haven’t officially confirmed details of the transaction. They have, however, already optioned Brendan Beck, who took Weathers’ roster spot on Sunday to serve as an extra relief option in case of emergency. (He did not pitch.)
Prior to signing a minor-league deal with the RailRiders, Topa recorded an 8.05 ERA through 19 innings pitched for the Twins this season, though his sinker at least helped him to a 54.4-percent groundball rate; perhaps the Yankees think they can work with him. He signed minor-league contracts with both the Blue Jays and Royals since being released from Minnesota in May and presumably hasn’t had enough time to unpack his bags in one place.
A seven-year veteran, Topa is also a New York product, born and raised in Binghamton, and going to college at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus. He debuted with the Brewers in 2020 and remained there until getting dealt to the Mariners in 2023. Topa was then flipped to the Twins in the Jorge Polanco deal the following offseason and spent the next couple years there before this season’s sojourn.
Not so much to write home about, but the Yankees apparently have enough confidence to give him a shot, at least in the short term.
