Luis Gil Shut Down With Shoulder Inflammation
The Yankees are shutting down righty Luis Gil after he was diagnosed with shoulder inflammation, manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Friday (link via Greg Joyce of The New York Post). He won’t throw for at least three weeks.
Gil, the 2024 American League Rookie of the Year, has had a frustrating last year and a half. He missed the first four months of the ’25 campaign after suffering a significant lat strain early in camp. Gil returned in August and managed a 3.32 earned run average across 57 innings. His strikeout rate was down 10 percentage points from the previous season, though, and he gave up a couple homers to take the loss in his lone Division Series start against the Blue Jays.
New York acquired Ryan Weathers over the offseason, pushing Gil to fifth on the rotation depth chart. A number of early-season off days allowed them to use a four-man rotation for a couple weeks, dropping Gil to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to open the year. He came back up on April 10 and was knocked around in three of his four starts. The Yankees optioned him back to Triple-A on April 27. They gave a couple starts to prospect Elmer Rodríguez and will welcome Carlos Rodón back from injury on Sunday.
Gil did not pitch with Scranton between his option and today’s diagnosis. Boone nevertheless told reporters that the Yankees believe this is a new injury and was not a factor in his poor MLB performance in April. If it were determined that Gil had suffered the injury while he was on the big league roster, the Yankees would need to rescind the option and place him on the Major League injured list. He’d accrue service time for as long as he’s unavailable in that case. Gil will not be credited with service time if he remains on the Triple-A injured list.
That’s a secondary consideration, one that’d be a moot point if Gil can’t right the ship to ensure the Yankees tender him an arbitration contract. He won’t resume throwing until close to the end of May in the best case scenario. Even if he’s cleared, he’ll need to progress through a series of bullpen/live batting practice sessions before the Yankees put him into a game.
Rodríguez and the also recently optioned Brendan Beck are the only healthy depth starters on New York’s 40-man roster. Hard-throwing prospect Carlos Lagrange, who turned heads with a dominant Spring Training, is not yet on the 40-man but working out of the Triple-A rotation. He leads Scranton in strikeouts but has continued to battle his longstanding control problems and has only once completed five innings in a start. The Yankees are continuing to develop him as a starter, but he’d probably be better suited breaking into MLB as a reliever if he’s going to be a factor this year.
The Yankees rotation is in good shape despite the lack of experienced upper minors depth. Rodón slots alongside a front four of Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Weathers — each of whom has pitched very well so far. Gerrit Cole is four starts into his rehab from Tommy John surgery and a few weeks away from his first MLB appearance since 2024.
Yankees Promote Spencer Jones, Place Jasson Dominguez On Injured List
May 8: The Yankees have formally announced Jones’ recall and Dominguez’s placement on the 10-day IL. New York also recalled righty Kervin Castro from Triple-A and optioned righty Brendan Beck in his place. Beck made his MLB debut yesterday, tossing three innings of long relief in a bullpen game. He wouldn’t have been available for a few days anyhow after throwing 52 pitches, so he’ll head back to Triple-A while Castro comes up to provide a fresh arm.
May 7: The Yankees are going to call up outfield prospect Spencer Jones, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. That will apparently be the corresponding move for fellow outfielder Jasson Domínguez heading to the injured list.
Domínguez departed today’s game after crashing into the wall to make a catch. He was examined by the medical staff for a while before being carted off the field. After the game, manager Aaron Boone told reporters that Domínguez will be heading to the injured list and will miss a few weeks. He has tested negative for a concussion thus far but has a low-grade AC sprain in his left shoulder. Bryan Hoch of MLB.com was among those to pass along the update from Boone.
It’s an unfortunate setback for Domínguez. He came into this season without a great path to playing time. The Yanks had an outfield consisting of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham. The designated hitter spot was filled by Giancarlo Stanton. Moving Bellinger to first base wasn’t an option with Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt sharing that spot.
Domínguez was called up about two weeks ago when Stanton was sidelined by a calf strain, opening up some at-bats. Rice has also missed the past four games due to a hand contusion. Even though Rice isn’t expected to hit the IL, that also somewhat softened the clog which was blocking Domínguez. Now Domínguez himself will be sidelined and therefore unable to take advantage of the openings. Perhaps there will still be playing time available for him when he gets back but that will depend how long he is out and what happens with the other guys in the interim.
With Domínguez set to join Stanton on the IL, the Yankees will use that as an opportunity to look at Jones, who is a polarizing prospect. The power is undeniable but it also comes with big strikeout concerns. He hit 35 home runs in the minors last year and already has 11 this season, but with massive strikeout numbers. He was punched out in 35.4% of his plate appearances last year, between Double-A and Triple-A. He has reduced that this year, but to a still-high 32.4% clip.
He has still been productive in the minors, even with all those punchouts. He has a .269/.350/.567 line and 135 wRC+ in his Triple-A career, indicating he has been 35% better than league average, despite striking out at a 35.2% clip at the level overall. It’s hard to succeed when striking out that much and he would presumably whiff even more in the majors, where the pitching is notably better than in Triple-A. Last year, no qualified hitter struck out more than Ryan McMahon and his 32.3% pace.
As mentioned, it’s a divisive profile. He was a consensus top 100 prospect going into 2024 but he doesn’t appear on those lists anymore. Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and FanGraphs have him ranked #6 in the system, while The Athletic gave him the #7 spot and ESPN #5. Jones can steal bases and is considered an adequate defender, certainly in the corners and maybe even in center. But really, whether he’s a viable major leaguer or not depends on what he does in the batter’s box.
Jones was just added to the 40-man roster in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. This is his first of three option seasons. If he struggles against major league pitching in the next few weeks, he can be sent back down when Stanton or Domínguez come off the IL. If he does find a way to make it work, then perhaps they have some tougher decisions to make.
They are in a position to experiment, as the Yanks are 26-12. Not only is that tied for the best record in baseball, but the rest of the American League is floundering. The Guardians are third in the A.L. with a 20-19 record. Even if Jones strikes out way too much, they will still be in a strong position.
Photo courtesy of Morgan Tencza, Imagn Images
Yankees Select Brendan Beck
The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Brendan Beck from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Right-hander Yerry de los Santos was optioned to Triple-A following last night’s game. New York already had a trio of 40-man roster vacancies. Their roster is now at 38.
Beck will be with the club for today’s afternoon tilt against the Rangers and could make his big league debut. Veteran righty Paul Blackburn is slated to start for the Yanks after Ryan Weathers was scratched due to illness. Beck, a starter with the Yankees’ top affiliate, could be a long relief option behind Blackburn, whose longest outing of the season has been three innings. Weathers will slot back into the rotation next week, manager Aaron Boone told reporters last night (link via ESPN’s Jorge Castillo). Weathers himself told the team’s beat that he got sick shortly after his last start and wound up losing nine pounds in under 48 hours (via SNY’s Chelsea Janes), so he’ll understandably be pushed back a few days as he regains strength.
The 27-year-old Beck — the younger brother of Giants righty Tristan Beck — was the Yankees’ second-round pick out of Stanford back in 2021. He’s a soft-tossing righty with plus command whose pro career has been marred by injuries. Beck required Tommy John surgery not long after being drafted and then missed all of the 2024 campaign due to another elbow surgery.
Beck returned from that second elbow procedure in 2025 and delivered a terrific season between Double-A and Triple-A, combining for 131 1/3 innings with a 3.36 ERA, a 23.6% strikeout rate and a 6.9% walk rate. He’s had an uneven start to his 2026 season, serving up a 5.11 ERA in 37 frames, but nearly all the damage against him thus far came in a pair of nightmare outings that saw him yield seven and eight runs. He’s held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in four of seven starts this year and is coming off a strong seven-inning outing against the Blue Jays’ top affiliate, where he held his opponents to a pair of runs on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts.
The Beck brothers, whose mother was born in England and whose grandfather was born in Wales, pitched for Great Britain’s team in this year’s World Baseball Classic. Brendan tossed four shutout innings with four strikeouts. This is his first career selection to the 40-man roster, so 2026 will be the first of three minor league option years for him. The Yankees can control Beck for at least six years beyond the current campaign.
MLBTR Podcast: Skubal’s Injury, The Marlins’ Catchers, Eldridge Called Up, And Volpe Sent Down
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- Tigers ace Tarik Skubal requiring elbow surgery (1:25)
- The Marlins calling up Joe Mack, optioning Agustín Ramírez and designating Chris Paddack for assignment (8:35)
- The Giants calling up Bryce Eldridge (21:50)
- The Yankees optioning Anthony Volpe (33:15)
- The Red Sox dealing with injuries to Garrett Crochet and others (41:55)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- What kind of package could the Rockies get if they traded Chase Dollander? (46:20)
- What can the Brewers do to address the left side of the infield? (56:50)
- Instead of using guys like Scott Kingery or Nicky Lopez on the bench, shouldn’t the Cubs call up a better player from the minors? (59:35)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Alex Cora Situation, Lucas Giolito Signs, And The Phillies Fire Rob Thomson – listen here
- Kevin McGonigle, The Padres’ Franchise Valuation, And Edwin Díaz To Miss Time – listen here
- Lenyn Sosa Traded, And Injury Concerns For The Astros, Cubs And Orioles – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of Evan Petzold, Imagn Images
Yankees Option Anthony Volpe To Triple-A
The Yankees have activated Anthony Volpe from the 10-day injured list and optioned the shortstop to Triple-A, as per a team announcement. Joel Sherman of the New York Post broke the news shortly before the Yankees’ official release.
After undergoing shoulder surgery last October, Volpe began this season on the 10-day IL to allow more time to fully recuperate. He began a minor league rehab assignment in April that has thus far consisted of 13 games (nine in Double-A, four in Triple-A), and today marked the final day of the 20-day window allotted for rehab assignments. The Yankees therefore had to decide on activating Volpe and adding him either to the big league roster, or optioning him to Triple-A.
The writing seemed to be on the wall yesterday when New York manager Aaron Boone said Volpe would be kept in the minors for the entirety of his 20-day rehab period. While Boone said Volpe was in “a really good spot and had a good rehab,” the skipper also noted that the shortstop “played, what, two-plus weeks of games. Spring Training is a lot longer than that. And he got a lot of live at-bats and reads in the field even leading up to that. He’s had pretty much close to a full Spring Training, but I don’t think it hurts to have him continue to play regularly.”
This rehab assignment had marked Volpe’s first taste of minor league ball since 2022, as had pretty much been a fixture at the Yankees’ shortstop position since he made his MLB debut on Opening Day 2023. As a consensus top-10 prospect in baseball, Volpe’s debut came with a ton of hype, and those (probably unfair) expectations have yet to be met over three big league seasons.
Volpe has hit .222/.283/.379 with 52 homers over 1886 career PA in the Show, translating to an 85 wRC+. He was at least a superb defender in his first two seasons and won the AL shortstop Gold Glove in 2023, but Volpe’s glovework also drastically dropped off last year, likely due to the fact that he played through much of the season with a partially torn left labrum.
New York acquired Jose Caballero from the Rays at last summer’s deadline, and the utilityman quickly made an impression upon his arrival in the Bronx, particularly when he filled in at shortstop when Volpe spent a week recovering from a cortisone shot. With the knowledge that Volpe could likely miss time at the start of the 2026 campaign to recover, the Yankees explored the shortstop market last winter but opted to stick with Caballero as the interim shortstop, and the results have been very solid.
Through 124 PA this season, Caballero is hitting .259/.306/.405 with four home runs, as well as 13 stolen bases in 17 attempts. Even his modest 99 wRC+ is still an improvement over Volpe’s career numbers, and Caballero has also put himself in the early Gold Glove conversation with his strong defensive play at shortstop.
The “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” cliche may be the simplest answer behind the Yankees’ decision on Volpe. New York is 23-11 and its .676 winning percentage is the second-best in baseball, behind only the Braves. There isn’t any real pressing need for Volpe to be brought up now, and should Caballero start to struggle or if an injury arises elsewhere within New York’s infield, Volpe can easily be called up for his 2026 debut.
(In what may be a related item, Ben Rice is day-to-day with a left hand contusion that forced him out of today’s game. X-rays were negative on Rice’s hand, and the fact that the Yankees are still optioning Volpe is probably a sign that Rice might miss a game or two at most.)
In the bigger picture, it is fair to wonder if Volpe is still considered a key piece of the Yankees’ future plans. He is only in his first year of arbitration eligibility and is under team control through 2028, yet Volpe now finds himself in the position of seemingly having to just win his old job back, let alone figure out how to break out against MLB pitchers. New York has another top shortstop prospect in George Lombard Jr. knocking on the door for his big league debut, so Lombard might supplant Volpe if Caballero hasn’t done so already.
Checking In On Hitters Who Accepted Qualifying Offers
Out of 13 players who received the qualifying offer this winter, four chose to accept. There were two hitters in that group: Trent Grisham and Gleyber Torres. Grisham was coming off a career-best year with the Yankees, in which he hit 34 home runs and tallied a 129 wRC+ even as his defense regressed. Meanwhile, Torres posted a 113 wRC+ for the Tigers in 2025 and earned his third career All-Star nomination, rebounding nicely from an underwhelming final year in New York. In the end, both opted to remain with their clubs, locking in a $22.025MM salary for 2026 and setting themselves up for a return trip to free agency after the season.
Today, we’ll take a look at how Grisham and Torres have performed in 2026 and whether they will live up to their qualifying offers.
Yankees: Trent Grisham
Grisham was a below-average hitter from 2022-24, as he struggled to make enough contact or take advantage of his power. He continued to provide value as a center fielder, earning 11 Defensive Runs Saved and 22 Outs Above Average in that three-year span. That made Grisham’s performance in 2025 all the more surprising. For the first time in a full season, he was a well above average hitter, while his defense regressed from being an asset to a liability (-11 DRS and -2 OAA). There were reasons to believe Grisham’s offense could stick. Behind the surface-level numbers, he posted career-highs in average exit velocity (91.1 MPH) and hard-hit rate (46.4%), in addition to cutting back slightly on strikeouts. If he could repeat as an above-average hitter, he would be a top center fielder in the game, even if his defense didn’t fully recover.
The early returns in 2026 have been underwhelming. Grisham’s .155/.297/.320 line through 118 plate appearances amounts to just a 79 wRC+ He is walking more and striking out less than 20% of the time, but his contact and power are lagging behind last year’s numbers. The Yankees aren’t sounding the alarm, though. As ugly as that batting average is, Grisham also been incredibly unlucky. He is batting just .151 on balls in play, which is more than 100 points below his career .259 mark. His expected batting average (.220) and expected slugging (.430) are also significantly higher than his actual numbers, so it’s likely that Grisham will improve as he gets more reps.
Beyond his output, the Yankees are also happy just to have continuity in their outfield. Jasson Dominguez was merely fine at the plate last year, though his defense remains a question mark long-term. He started this year in the minors and only returned for a few games before landing on the injured list. Otherwise, the trio of Cody Bellinger, Grisham, and Aaron Judge was one of the league’s best outfield trios last year, so it made sense to run it back. The club is hoping for more out of Grisham this year than what he’s provided so far, but the underlying metrics point to at least average offense as the season goes on. All things considered, the 2026 version of Grisham might be a solid center fielder, if not the force he was last year.
Tigers: Gleyber Torres
Torres improved his strikeout and walk rates from 2024 to 2025, while his power remained roughly the same. The incremental improvements brought his wRC+ from 105 to 113, making Torres one of the better hitting second basemen in the Majors. Defensively, Torres’ -4 DRS and -4 OAA at second base were in line with expectations, as he’s always been a below-average fielder. His defense will be a larger concern as he ages, but on a one-year, $15MM prove-it deal, the Tigers could afford it given Torres’ value on offense.
The jump from $15MM to $22.025MM wasn’t as drastic as Grisham’s salary increase (+$17.025MM) for the Yankees. From that lens, Torres was better positioned to provide value for the Tigers if he simply repeated last year’s output. So far in 2026, he has been slightly above average, but a step down from his 2025 numbers. To his credit, Torres is walking at a 17.6% clip and only striking out 15.5% of the time. However, that’s been undone by a drop in power. His isolated slugging is sitting at .070, a steep decline from last year’s mark of .132. Torres gets on base at a .380 clip, which mitigates the power drop somewhat, but he also doesn’t make enough contact to fully overcome it.
This performance isn’t entirely unexpected when viewed in context with Torres’ second-half numbers from 2025. After hitting over 40% better than average in May and June, he was roughly average in July (102 wRC+), then below average in August (94 wRC+) and September/October (82 wRC+). Torres was playing through pain and underwent surgery for a sports hernia in October, which partly explains the second-half decline. His average exit velocity is down to just 83.3 MPH in 2026, so it’s possible Torres is still dealing with the effects of a disrupted offseason and will need longer to get going. For now, he is getting on base enough to remain above average, and the club will bank on a full return to form the further away he gets from the surgery.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
AL East Notes: Volpe, Caballero, Crochet, Gray, Berrios
Sunday is the final day of Anthony Volpe‘s 20-day minor league rehabilitation period, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty) that Volpe will remain at Double-A Somerset for the entirety of the 20-man window, and “then we’ll kind of reevaluate where we are.” Once the rehab period is up, the Yankees must either reinstate Volpe to the active roster or option the shortstop to Triple-A.
As Volpe finishes up his recovery from October shoulder surgery, it can’t be ignored that the Yankees haven’t really missed him at shortstop. Jose Caballero has delivered strong defense at the position, speed (a league-best 12 stolen bases), and a .266/.310/.422 slash line over 116 plate appearances. The offensive numbers translate to an above-average 105 wRC+, which is significantly better than the 85 wRC+ Volpe has posted over 1886 PA in three seasons in the Bronx. While the Yankees didn’t make a bigger addition over the offseason to officially bump Volpe out of the starting shortstop role, Caballero might’ve simply pipped Volpe out of the job, leaving Volpe in something of an uncertain state within the organization.
Some other items from the AL East….
- An MRI on Garrett Crochet‘s left shoulder revealed only inflammation, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and other reporters. Crochet won’t start throwing until at least Monday, as the southpaw will work on shoulder-strengthening exercises over the weekend. While Tracy said there’s “no timetable on” when Crochet could be back in Boston’s rotation, it remains possible the left-hander may still miss only the minimum 15 days on the IL, though obviously the team won’t rush their ace until he is fully ready.
- In other Red Sox rotation news, Sonny Gray threw a three-inning live batting practice session on Friday, in what could be the last step before his activation from the 15-day IL. Gray hasn’t pitched since April 20 due to a hamstring strain, but the injury is seemingly minor enough that Gray could be back in Boston’s rotation as early as Wednesday.
- Jose Berrios will make his fourth rehab start on Sunday with Triple-A Buffalo, Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling). It is possible this may be Berrios’ final tune-up, as the right-hander tossed 70 pitches in his previous outing on April 28, and felt good after throwing a bullpen session yesterday. A stress fracture in his right elbow has kept Berrios from pitching in the majors this season, and he also dealt with biceps tendon inflammation late in 2025 that kept him from participating in the Jays’ playoff run.
Randal Grichuk Elects Free Agency
The Yankees announced that outfielder Randal Grichuk has elected free agency in lieu of accepting an outright assignment. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week.
Grichuk, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in the offseason. That deal came with a $2.5MM salary if he got added to the roster, which he did, cracking the Opening Day squad. He is a right-handed hitter and has traditionally been better against lefties. The Yanks were hoping he could be a nice complement to their lefty-heavy lineup. Unfortunately, he has hit just .227/.261/.364 against southpaws this year. That line leads to a 71 wRC+, indicating he has been 29% below average in that split. He hit .194/.212/.323 overall.
That performance got him bumped into DFA limbo and none of the 29 other teams wanted to claim his contract off waivers. Players with at least five years of big league service time can reject outright assignments while keeping their salary commitments in tact. The Yankees will remain on the hook for the remainder of that $2.5MM. Another club could now sign Grichuk and would only have to pay him the prorated portion of the $780K league minimum for any time spent on the roster. That amount would be subtracted from what the Yankees pay.
Grichuk’s recent form isn’t much to garner interest. Last year’s .228/.273/.401 line was better than this year’s but still subpar, translating to a wRC+ of 82. Defensively, Grichuk is essentially a corner-only guy now. He has lots of center field experience but has just two innings at that position since the end of the 2023 season.
He’s not too far removed from being a useful complementary player. With the Diamondbacks in 2024, he slashed .291/.348/.528 for a 139 wRC+. Roughly two thirds of his plate appearances were against southpaws but he had above-average results against pitchers of either handedness. That led to him securing a $5MM guarantee for 2025 but, as mentioned, his results weren’t as good. He had to settle for a minor league deal for 2026. Even when he got called up, his base salary was half of the year prior.
Though 29 teams just passed on the chance to get him off waivers, signing him now would be much cheaper. On a prorated basis, the league minimum would be less than a third of his salary and it would also come with no commitment, as teams could cut bait at any time.
Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images
Paul DeJong Opts Out Of Yankees Deal
Veteran infielder Paul DeJong has opted out of his minor league contract with the Yankees and is now a free agent, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
DeJong is only hitting .203 in Triple-A, but he’s clobbered six homers and walked at a 19% clip in 83 plate appearances, leaving him with an overall .203/.361/.516 batting line (127 wRC+). New York brought him in as a depth option in the offseason, knowing Anthony Volpe would miss the beginning of the year recovering from shoulder surgery. However, the Yanks also have Jose Caballero and Oswaldo Cabrera as infield options, and after signing DeJong they also acquired infielder Max Schuemann from the A’s. Volpe is set to return in the near future, and all of Caballero, Schuemann and Cabrera are still on the 40-man roster, leaving DeJong little path to a big league promotion.
A veteran of nine big league seasons, DeJong is a slick fielding, right-handed hitting shortstop who’s capable of playing anywhere on the infield. He strikes out too often (career 27.9%) and doesn’t walk enough to completely offset that (7.1%). DeJong has plenty of power though, evidenced by 146 round-trippers and a .187 ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average) in the majors. He’s a career .229/.294/.416 hitter in exactly 3500 big league plate appearances.
DeJong has played in each of the past nine major league seasons and logged at least 208 plate appearances in every 162-game season in that time (plus 174 plate appearances in the shortened 2020 campaign). He spent the 2025 season with the Nats and hit .228/.269/.373 in 208 trips to the plate. He’d have logged more playing time were it not for a fractured nose — suffered when an errant fastball hit him in the face — that sidelined him for two months.
There are plenty of teams with starting infielders on the shelf at the moment, which could lead to a new opportunity for DeJong. The Astros (Jeremy Peña), Athletics (Max Muncy), Orioles (Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday) and Mets (Francisco Lindor) are among the clubs dealing with prominent infield injuries. There are surely several other teams that might have interest in adding a quality defender with some pop to help out the big league bench or to stash in the upper minors (with a clearer path to the majors for DeJong).
Yankees Designate Randal Grichuk For Assignment
The Yankees announced Wednesday that veteran outfielder Randal Grichuk has been designated for assignment. His spot on the roster goes to top pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez, whose previously reported promotion to the majors is now official.
Grichuk, 34, signed a minor league deal with the Yankees over the winter and made the roster despite a shaky spring performance. The 13-year veteran was brought in as a right-handed bat to provide some punch against lefties, ideally platooning with lefty-swinging Trent Grisham, but Grichuk hasn’t found his footing in a limited role. He’s taken 33 plate appearances and delivered a meek .194/.212/.323 batting line with 10 punchouts.
It’s been a tough couple of seasons for Grichuk, who posted a .228/.273/.401 line (82 wRC+) in 293 plate appearances between Arizona and Kansas City last year. However, he’s also not far removed from a 2024 campaign that saw him post a superlative .291/.348/.528 slash (139 wRC+) during his first season with the D-backs.
Grichuk had plenty of run as a low-OBP, power-focused regular with the Blue Jays earlier in his career. He’s a lifetime .250/.297/.464 hitter with 212 homers in the big leagues. Grichuk has long been a thorn in the side of left-handed pitchers, and as he’s aged into his 30s, he’s taken on a more limited platoon role. He didn’t hit lefties in his tiny sample with the Yankees, and he struggled against them in uncharacteristic fashion last year as well. Despite the recent downturn, however, he still carries a career .268/.318/.498 line against southpaws.
The Yankees will have five days to trade Grichuk, place him on outright waivers or release him. The latter option is likeliest. Any team to acquire Grichuk or claim him would be taking on the remainder of the prorated $2.5MM salary on his minor league deal. Given his tough start to the season and last year’s struggles, that seems unlikely. If he’s released, he’ll be able to sign with any club seeking some righty-hitting corner outfield depth. Grichuk does have 3677 career innings in center, but the vast majority of that work came earlier in his career; he’s played only 147 frames in center dating back to 2023 and hasn’t graded out as a clearly above-average defender there since 2019.
Today’s swap of Rodriguez for Grichuk balances out the Yankees’ big league roster. They’ve spent the past couple days playing with 14 position players and 12 pitchers while holding off on a decision regarding Giancarlo Stanton‘s IL status. The Yankees finally placed Stanton on the IL due to a low-grade calf strain last night and replaced him with utilityman Max Schuemann, who was recalled from Triple-A. Jettisoning Grichuk and bringing up Rodriguez again gives the Yankees 13 pitchers and 13 position players, putting their bullpen back at full strength and returning them to a four-man bench.