In a bit of surprising news, the Yankees will be calling up one of their top pitching prospects, Elmer Rodríguez, to make a spot start this week. Aaron Boone confirmed today that Rodríguez would start tomorrow afternoon’s series finale with the Rangers. Will Warren was originally scheduled to start, but will instead see his outing pushed back beyond Thursday’s off-day, lining the Yankee rotation up as Warren, Ryan Weathers, and Max Fried for this weekend’s series against the Orioles.
It’s an exciting
development, Rodríguez slated to become the youngest player to pitch for the Yankees since Deivi Garcia in 2021:
Rodríguez may not be around for long this time around, but it’ll still be fascinating to see one of the Yankees’ best prospects take his first shot at major league hitters. The right-hander broke out last year after coming to the Yankees via trade from the Red Sox, posting a 2.58 ERA across 150 innings in the high minors. In 2026, he’s picked up right where he left off, flashing impressive stuff in spring training, pitching three scoreless innings for Puerto Rico in the WBC, and maintaining a 1.27 ERA over his first 21.2 innings in Triple-A, with 20 strikeouts against seven walks.
The Rodríguez call-up comes as part of a broader roster shuffle, with the Yankees reportedly set to send Giancarlo Stanton to the IL and call up infielder Max Schuemann today. It’s unclear as of now exactly how this puzzle will sort out. Stanton hitting the injured list will clear only one active roster spot, meaning either Schuemann is ticketed to head right back to Scranton when Rodríguez comes up tomorrow, or that the Yankees will option another player, perhaps Jake Bird, to make room for Rodríguez, with Schuemann sticking around until Anthony Volpe’s return.
Whichever way the Yankees piece this together, Wednesday’s matinee in Texas suddenly becomes must-see TV (coming on the heels of tonight’s Cam Schlittler vs. Jacob deGrom showdown, no less). It’s been a fun time to be a Yankee fan the last couple of weeks, and this week looks to be no different.
