Yankees Place Austin Wells On 10-Day IL With Cervical Headaches
Catcher Austin Wells is heading to the injured list due to cervical headaches, the Yankees announced. J.C. Escarra was recalled to take Wells’ spot on the roster. Escarra was just sent down on Friday, but he’ll report back to the big-league club before playing a game at Triple-A.
Wells does not have a concussion, manager Aaron Boone told reporters, including Greg Joyce of the New York Post. The backstop complained of a headache on Friday night. He’s slated for additional testing on Sunday. Ali Sanchez was in the starting lineup behind the plate on Saturday before the game was rained out.
Jose Caballero pinch-hit for Wells in the ninth inning yesterday, but that likely had more to do with getting a right-handed bat in there against lefty Aroldis Chapman. There was no indication of an injury. Wells had started three of four games this week. He went hitless in 10 at-bats.
Wells is enduring a brutal offensive season. He’s hitting just .166 as New York’s primary catcher. After slugging a career-high 21 home runs last season, Wells has left the yard just four times this year. The left-handed bat has been particularly underwhelming against southpaws. Wells is 5-for-50 facing left-handed pitching this season.
Wells’ main contributions have come with the glove. He’s recorded 3 Defensive Runs Saved across 400 2/3 innings. Statcast gives him a Fielding Run Value of 3. Wells ranks in the 91st percentile for framing. He’s been slightly below average throwing out base stealers.
Escarra has functioned as Wells’ backup for most of the season. He hasn’t been any better offensively, posting a 38 wRC+ in 68 plate appearances. Only the Angels and Phillies have a lower OPS than the Yankees at the catcher position. Escarra will likely step into a platoon with Sanchez, who had his contract selected yesterday. The righty-swinging Sanchez should typically be in the lineup against lefties, like he was tonight against Ranger Suarez.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Yankees Select Ali Sánchez
TODAY: The Yankees officially announced the move, specifying that Sanchez has now signed a Major League contract with the team.
JUNE 5: The Yankees will select catcher Ali Sánchez onto the MLB roster, reports Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. New York hasn’t confirmed that move but announced tonight that backup catcher J.C. Escarra was optioned to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. New York has had room on the 40-man roster since early-season DFAs of Cade Winquest and Randal Grichuk, so no other move is necessary.
Sánchez will take over as the backup catcher behind Austin Wells, giving them a right-handed bat in the process. The Yankees have used a left-handed hitting duo of Wells and Escarra all season. Neither player has done anything offensively, with the latter hitting .177 without a home run in 22 games. Wells has a putrid .166/.278/.255 line across 169 plate appearances. He only has five hits in 50 at-bats against lefty pitching.
The 29-year-old Sánchez, who signed an offseason minor league deal, isn’t going to provide much of an offensive boost. He’s a .183 hitter in 50 career big league contests. This year’s .227/.327/.375 line over 40 Triple-A contests is below average and has come with reverse platoon splits. The Yankees figure to look for a clearer upgrade behind the dish before the trade deadline. They’ll hope Sánchez can provide a small spark, or at least better balance, in the interim.
Sánchez has a solid defensive reputation. He showed a plus arm in ranking among the top 20 catchers in average pop time last year in very brief stints with the Red Sox and Blue Jays. Sánchez has thrown out nearly a quarter of attempted base stealers at the MLB level and is 12-43 (28%) with Scranton this season. Statcast also graded him favorably for his blocking ability during his most extended MLB action, a 31-game stint with the Marlins two seasons ago.
Aaron Judge Diagnosed With Rib Stress Fracture, Will Be Reevaluated In 4-6 Weeks
June 5: Judge has been officially placed on the 10-day IL, retroactive to June 2nd, with Jones recalled as the corresponding move. Jack Curry of the YES Network first reported the Jones move earlier today.
June 4: The Yankees will be without the game’s most feared slugger for a couple months. New York announced that Aaron Judge has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in the first rib on his right side. He’ll go for follow-up imaging in four to six weeks to gauge his healing and rehab process.
New York announced that Judge is expected back at some point before the end of the season. It’ll almost certainly not be until August at the earliest. He’ll be placed on the 10-day injured list before tomorrow’s series opener with the Red Sox and seems likely to wind up on the 60-day IL at some point.
Judge sat out this week’s series against the Guardians. The Yankees announced he was going for testing on a ribcage injury despite feeling the pain mostly in his right shoulder. Fans had some concern when the team sent Judge to a doctor who specializes in treating thoracic outlet syndrome this afternoon. It seems that was to rule out the nerve condition.
Thoracic outlet syndrome would have been the nightmare outcome. A rib fracture seems unlikely to be a career-altering injury. While it’s not a worst case scenario, it’s clearly not good news. It’ll take until around the All-Star Break for the team to even check into the rib’s healing. He’d need to build up baseball activities and live batting practice sessions from there. An absence of this length is also going to require a rehab assignment to get accustomed to game speed.
Judge has felt an increasing amount of discomfort while hitting over the past few weeks. There was no single play this season that caused the injury. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com notes that Judge actually suffered a stress fracture of the same rib and a partially collapsed lung on a diving catch attempt back in 2019. That wasn’t diagnosed until the following March. The pandemic then shut down the sport for a few months, so that injury didn’t cost him any game time.
This injury has clearly weighed on Judge’s performance. He hit .243/.368/.437 with five home runs in May. That’d be a good few weeks for most hitters but was Judge’s lowest OPS in a month since April 2024. He had an OPS north of 1.000 this April, slugging 12 homers through the season’s first five weeks.
The Yankees are also without Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Domínguez. Utility players José Caballero and Max Schuemann have started the last three games in right field. They’ll probably bring Spencer Jones back up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre now that a Judge IL stay is confirmed. Domínguez is taking batting practice and could begin a rehab assignment this week. Stanton told Jon Heyman of The New York Post that he’s hoping to be back from a calf strain in about two weeks.
New York led MLB in scoring in May even without a herculean month from the three-time MVP. Ben Rice and Cody Bellinger are having fantastic seasons. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has picked things up after a bad start. Paul Goldschmidt, back in the everyday lineup thanks to the Stanton and Domínguez injuries, is having a resurgent year. The bottom third of the order has been an issue, especially Austin Wells behind the plate, but this should still be an above-average lineup.
It’s clearly not going to be as potent without Judge as the anchor though. It’s unlikely this will dramatically change their deadline trajectory, as Domínguez should be back before too long to hold an outfield spot until Judge returns. It could certainly impact a tight division race, with New York holding a half-game advantage over Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Yankees Move Prospect Carlos Lagrange To Bullpen For 2026
The Yankees are moving pitching prospect Carlos Lagrange to the bullpen in Triple-A, as first reported by Jack Curry of The YES Network. Manager Aaron Boone subsequently confirmed the decision while adding that the team still hopes to develop Lagrange as a starter in future seasons.
“We definitely view him long term as a starter,” Boone told reporters (including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). “But in the 2026 lens, there’s a chance for him to potentially impact us out of the bullpen while not really disrupting anything moving forward.” Boone added that the Yankees will need to take “several weeks” to get Lagrange accustomed to working in shorter stints and pitching on an every other day basis.
That’ll take place with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It’ll still be at least a few weeks before Lagrange is an option at the MLB level. It’s clear the Yankees are targeting a midseason promotion for the fireballing 23-year-old, who certainly has the stuff to be a late-inning weapon if he’s around the strike zone. They’ll ideally feel comfortable bringing him up a few weeks before the trade deadline, as that could factor into their urgency to add external bullpen help.
Lagrange has averaged 98.9 mph on his fastball while working as a starter. There’s a decent chance he’ll be sitting in the triple digits in shorter stints, as he’s been clocked up to 103. He’s carrying a pedestrian 4.41 ERA through 49 Triple-A innings despite a 29% strikeout rate. Lagrange has walked more than 11% of opponents while averaging less than five innings per start.
The fastball is one of the best in the minors. Prospect evaluators also praise his breaking stuff, most notably his slider. Baseball America and Eric Longenhagen/Brendan Gawlowski of FanGraphs each ranked Lagrange the #4 prospect in the Yankees system over the winter. Both outlets felt he was likeliest to end up in the bullpen given his subpar control but write that he has closing upside in that capacity.
The Yankees seem likely to look for another high-leverage arm to join David Bednar, Fernando Cruz and Brent Headrick in relief. Bednar, an impending free agent, has had an inconsistent season in the closer role. New York could get Clarke Schmidt back late in the year to work in a relief capacity and/or consider Ryan Weathers in the bullpen if they’re concerned about his workload.
Yankees Notes: Bullpen, Lagrange, Catcher
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.
Yankees Sign Peter Strzelecki To Minors Contract
The Yankees have signed right-hander Peter Strzelecki to a minor league deal, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. Strzelecki will begin his tenure with his new team at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Brewers signed Strzelecki to a minors deal back in February, and selected that contract to the 26-man roster last Saturday. However, Strzelecki’s return to the big leagues was very brief, as Milwaukee designated him for assignment the very next day, and before the right-hander could get into a game. Strzelecki cleared waivers and, since he has been outrighted in the past, he had the ability to elect free agency rather than accept the outright assignment back to Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate.
His time on the open market was brief, and the righty now lands with what is technically one of his hometown teams — Strzelecki was born in Queens, though he grew up in Florida. Strzelecki is still looking for his first MLB action since 2024, when he had a 2.31 ERA over 11 2/3 innings for the Guardians. Over 83 2/3 career innings with the Brewers (in a previous stint in Milwaukee), Diamondbacks, and Guardians, Strzelecki has a 3.44 ERA, 24% strikeout rate, and 8.4% walk rate.
Despite these solid numbers, Strzelecki’s low-90s velocity may not turn many heads, and he is out of minor league options. If the Yankees were to select his contract to their active roster, they’d have to DFA Strzelecki and expose the 31-year-old to waivers again before trying to send him back down to the minors. The lack of roster flexibility may lead to more trips through DFA limbo for Strzelecki down the road, but for now he’ll stay in SWB as bullpen depth.
Anthony Volpe To Start Second Base Work
The Yankees will begin to have Anthony Volpe taking drills at second base, manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Friday (link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). Volpe remains on the big league roster even with José Caballero back from the injured list. New York optioned rookie outfielder Spencer Jones last night.
Caballero had a minimal IL stay due to a fracture in his right middle finger. The Yankees recalled Volpe to handle shortstop for the past week and a half. Boone said at the time he viewed Caballero as the starting shortstop. The manager was a little less firm on that today, saying he’ll “make (that) decision every night,” but Caballero indeed drew back in today against Nick Martinez for the start of a big weekend series against the division-leading Rays.
Volpe has played more than 4000 innings at the MLB level, all of which have come at shortstop. He started two games at second base in A-ball five years ago. That said, it’s common for shortstops to move fairly easily to other infield positions. Boone said the Yankees don’t intend to have Volpe take any reps at third base. They’ll hopefully quickly get to a point where they’re comfortable using him at either middle infield spot.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. remains the primary second baseman. He’s starting his 48th of 52 games there tonight. Amed Rosario has gotten the other four starts to occasionally spell the lefty-hitting Chisholm against an opposing southpaw. Chisholm has had a tough year against pitchers of either handedness, but his .239/.317/.372 line in a down season is still better than what Volpe provided at the plate over his first three seasons.
Volpe appeared in eight games while Caballero was out. He had five hits, including two doubles, while drawing seven walks in 30 plate appearances. He showed enough that the Yankees opted not to send him back to Triple-A, though it remains to be seen if they’ll get him into the lineup on a semi-regular basis.
They’re not going to use Volpe only against left-handed pitching. Rosario is a better hitter against lefties and a cleaner fit in that role, not that the Yankees use Chisholm as a strict platoon player regardless. Caballero has more established positional versatility and was out to a strong start to the season. He’s the team leader with 13 stolen bases while hitting .259/.320/.400 across 147 plate appearances. Caballero was a full-time shortstop early in the season with Volpe rehabbing last fall’s shoulder surgery. He could bounce to third base or the outfield if the Yankees want to mix Volpe in at shortstop. They haven’t gotten much from Ryan McMahon at the hot corner all year.
Gerrit Cole To Start For Yankees On Friday
Yankees manager Aaron Boone informed reporters, including Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, that right-hander Gerrit Cole will be activated from the 15-day injured list to start for the club on Friday. That will be his first start in the big leagues since 2024, as he spent 2025 recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Cole’s track record is well known at this point, as he has been one of the most consistent performers for most of his career. He has a 3.18 earned run average in almost 2,000 big league innings. In 12 seasons, he has only once finished with an ERA higher than 3.88.
Injury absences had been rare for him. From 2013 to 2023, he logged at least 116 innings in each full season and hit the 200-inning mark six times. Elbow issues became a talking point in 2024. Fresh off his Cy Young win in 2023, he experienced some elbow discomfort early the next year. He began the 2024 season on the IL but ultimately returned and posted a 3.41 ERA over 95 innings. He then put up a 2.17 ERA in five postseason starts as the Yanks charged to the World Series, ultimately falling to the Dodgers.
Then in spring training 2025, elbow discomfort returned. This time, it was more serious, as Cole had to go under the knife in March. He sat out the 2025 season and the Yanks did fairly well without him. They had signed Max Fried, who stepped into the ace role. Fried gave the Yanks a 2.86 ERA over 32 starts last year as the Yanks went 94-68. They couldn’t go as far in the playoffs as the year prior, dropping an ALDS matchup with the Blue Jays.
Now, coincidentally, Fried and Cole are effectively swapping places again. Fried recently hit the IL due to a bone bruise in his left elbow. It’s unclear how long that issue will keep Fried on the shelf, but it continues the stretch of the two pitchers technically being on the same team without ever being on the active roster together.
Cole has been rehabbing for a few weeks and was slated to make one more rehab start. The Yanks initially said that Fried’s injury wouldn’t prompt them to speed up Cole’s timeline but it seems they have pivoted from that. Cole is undoubtedly stretched out, having gone at least 4 1/3 innings in all six of his rehab outings. His 4.66 ERA doesn’t look especially impressive but he only allowed three earned runs combined over his two most recent games, tossing 10 1/3 innings in those.
Fried’s injury temporarily delays a tough decision for the Yankees. The club has been getting good results from Fried, Will Warren, Cam Schlittler and Ryan Weathers, with all four of those guys having ERAs under 3.60. Carlos Rodón has a 5.63 ERA but it only two starts, as he also began the season on the IL recovering from elbow surgery. As Cole was rehabbing, it looked like someone was going to get an undeserved demotion to the minors or the bullpen.
For now, Cole takes Fried’s spot and everyone else in that group can stay. If Fried is able to return relatively quickly, then perhaps an awkward decision will be required at that time, though it’s also possible another injury pops up in the interim. It’s also possible that Clarke Schmidt could enter the picture later in the season, as he is recovering a Tommy John surgery performed in July.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Yankees Select Yovanny Cruz
The Yankees announced that they have selected right-hander Yovanny Cruz to their major league roster. Fellow righty Elmer Rodríguez has been optioned to Triple-A to open an active roster spot. The Yanks had a couple of 40-man vacancies, so no corresponding move is required there.
Cruz, 26, was originally an international signee of the Cubs out of the Dominican Republic back in 2016. He became a minor league free agent after 2023 and has since bounced around on minor league deals with the Padres, Red Sox and Yankees.
Though he was signed a decade ago, this is his first season pitching at the Triple-A level. Statcast pegs his four-seamer at 99.2 miles per hour on average. He also throws a high-80s slider. Statcast has also classified a few pitches as splitters, sinkers or changeups but the four-seamer/slider combo has made up well over 90% of his offerings.
For most of his minor league career, he has been able to miss bats but also the strike zone. From 2023 to 2025, he logged 110 innings on the farm, allowing 3.19 earned runs per nine. He struck out 26.8% of batters faced while giving out walks to 14.5% of opponents.
The results this year have been comparable, though slightly improved. In 18 frames, he has an ERA of 3.00 and a 29.1% strikeout rate. He has also induced grounders on 52.3% of balls in play. He has given out nine walks, making up 11.4% of batters faced. He has also hit three batters. Combining the walks and the hit batters, that’s 15.2% of opponents getting a free trip to first. Despite the control issues, Baseball America has taken notice, recently giving Cruz the #28 spot in the Yankees’ system.
It’s possible that Cruz is only up to give the Yanks a fresh arm. Of the Yankees eight relievers, six of them pitched yesterday. Three of those were pitching for a second consecutive day. With the group somewhat gassed overall, they will go to a nine-man bullpen by bringing up Cruz.
It’s unclear what this means for the rotation. The Yanks recently placed Max Fried on the IL and recalled Rodríguez to take his rotation spot. Rodríguez had a decent outing yesterday, allowing one run over 4 1/3 innings. After the game, manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com that Rodríguez would stick around for one more turn of the rotation before Gerrit Cole‘s scheduled reinstatement from the injured list.
It seems the Yanks pivoted from that plan in order to get a fresh arm up for tonight’s game, as they kick off a four-game series against the Blue Jays. Ryan Weathers, Will Warren, Cam Schlittler and Carlos Rodón are scheduled to start the games in that series. By Friday’s game against the Rays, they’ll need a plan for the open rotation spot. That could be activating Cole sooner than anticipated, or perhaps a bullpen game led by someone like Paul Blackburn or Ryan Yarbrough. They could also call someone else up from the minors between now and then, if Cole is still going to make one more rehab start.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Gio Urshela Announces Retirement
Infielder Gio Urshela has announced his retirement as a player in a post on his Instagram page. In the post, he thanks the people who contributed to his career, including his family, friends, fans, baseball organizations, coaches, the people of Colombia and more.
Urshela, now 34, was signed by Cleveland back in 2008. An international amateur out of Colombia, he secured a signing bonus of $300K. He quickly developed a reputation as a plus defender at third base while also dabbling at the other infield positions. His bat was a bit more questionable. He didn’t strike out much in the minors but also didn’t draw many walks and it wasn’t clear how much thump he could produce with his contact approach.
He cracked the majors in 2015. His initial big league opportunities matched his profile. He could pick the ball at third and didn’t strike out a lot but also didn’t produce offensively. He was eventually designated for assignment in 2018 and flipped to the Blue Jays in a cash deal. The Jays put him on waivers later that year and the 29 other clubs all declined a chance to claim him. At that time, he had 499 major league plate appearances and a .225/.274/.315 line.
The Jays traded Urshela to the Yankees for cash late in 2018. He began the following season as non-roster depth for Miguel Andujar, who had just finished a solid rookie campaign, finishing second in American League Rookie of the Year voting behind Shohei Ohtani. Early in the 2019 campaign, Andujar suffered a torn labrum in his right shoulder, an injury that would eventually require season-ending surgery. Though that was unfortunate for Andujar, it turned out to be the opportunity for Urshela to break out.
Urshela took over the third base job in the Bronx that year with a big step forward offensively. He hit 21 home runs and slashed .314/.355/.534 for a 132 wRC+. FanGraphs credited him with 3.1 wins above replacement. He may have hit his personal zenith that year with some help from external forces. His .349 batting average on balls in play was well above average. That was also the juiced-ball year, with home run records set all around the league.
Regardless, Urshela still proved to be a viable major league hitter in subsequent seasons. Over the shortened 2020 season and the 2021 campaign, he hit 20 homers in 159 games and slashed .275/.320/.438 for a 108 wRC+. He was credited with 2.4 fWAR for that span.
Going into 2022, Urshela was part of a big trade. He and catcher Gary Sánchez were flipped to the Twins for third baseman Josh Donaldson, infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa and catcher Ben Rortvedt. Urshela had a solid campaign in Minnesota, hitting 13 home runs and putting up a .285/.338/.429 line, translating to a 118 wRC+. FanGraphs put another 2.6 WAR on his ledger that year.
Ahead of the 2023 season, Urshela was traded to the Angels for pitching prospect Alejandro Hidalgo. That was unfortunately just before things started to turn sour for Urshela. He hit a respectable .299/.329/.374 for the Halos but went on the injured list in June due to a pelvic fracture. He didn’t require surgery but he missed the second half of that season and was never really able to get back on track after that.
He became a free agent and signed a $1.5MM deal with the Tigers going into 2024. He got into 92 games for Detroit but hit .243/.286/.333 for a wRC+ of 74. He was designated for assignment and released that August. He latched on with Atlanta and finished on a slightly higher note, slashing .265/.287/.424 in 36 games.
That strong finish was enough to get him a $2.15MM deal with the Athletics for 2025. He hit .238/.287/.326 in 59 games for the A’s before getting designated for assignment and released in August. He returned to the Twins on a minor league deal this past offseason. He hit .192/.250/.231 in spring training and was released at the end of camp.
Urshela finishes his career having played in 851 games with 3,028 plate appearances. He only walked in 5.9% of those but also limited his strikeouts to an 18.3% pace. He collected 759 hits, including 147 doubles, nine triples and 73 home runs. He scored 312 times, drove in 352 runs and stole seven bases. His career slash line finishes at .270/.314/.407. That leads to a subpar 97 wRC+ but is dragged down by his slow start and soft finish. From 2019 to 2022, he hit .290/.336/.463 for a 118 wRC+. Both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference credit him with about eight wins above replacement, mostly from that four-year peak. Baseball Reference pegs his career earnings over $25MM.
We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Urshela on a fine career and wish him the best for his post-playing days.
Photos courtesy of David Butler II, Jesse Johnson, Nick Wosika, Imagn Images