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Yankees Option Andrew Heaney

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The Yankees announced they’ve reinstated Jonathan Loáisiga from the 10-day injured list. To open space on the active roster, New York optioned Andrew Heaney to their rookie-level Florida Complex League affiliate.

This surely isn’t the result New York envisioned when they acquired Heaney just before this summer’s trade deadline. Heaney owned just a 5.27 ERA at the time, but the Yankees bet that his high-end strikeout and walk rates (28.2% and 7.7%, respectively) would translate into stronger future results.

That hasn’t yet proven to be the case. Heaney was installed into the Yankees’ rotation over the first month after the trade, but he was tagged for 18 runs in 26 innings, largely thanks to a staggering nine home runs allowed. New York moved him into the bullpen after that rough start, but he’s been even less effective in that new role. Over seven relief outings, the southpaw has served up eleven runs in 9 2/3 frames, including four more long balls. Heaney has actually continued to post decent strikeout and walk numbers in pinstripes, but he’s been so homer-prone that hasn’t mattered.

It’s an especially inopportune time for Heaney to post arguably the worst season of his career. He’ll hit free agency for the first time this winter, coming off a campaign in which he’s tossed 129 2/3 innings of 5.83 ERA ball between Anaheim and the Bronx. He’ll present a rather difficult evaluation for teams. Because of his strong strikeout and walk rates, Heaney’s SIERA remains quite good (3.83). Of the 122 pitchers with 100+ innings, only four have a worse home run rate than Heaney’s 2.01 HR/9, though, and his second half struggles became significant enough the Yankees have bumped him from the active roster for a few of their most important games of the year.

Heaney has more than five years of major league service time, meaning he could not be optioned without consenting to a minor league assignment. Presumably, the Yankees offered him the choice of agreeing to the option or being designated for assignment (which almost certainly would’ve resulted in him being released). Rather than refuse the assignment and be cut from the organization altogether, he’ll head to the complex in hopes of straightening things out. He remains on the 40-man roster and could still be a depth option should the Yankees qualify for the postseason.

Loáisiga will try to help the Yankees get to the playoffs, as he returns after a three-week absence due to a shoulder strain. He has been among the club’s most effective relievers this season, tossing 68 frames of 2.25 ERA ball. The Yankees have reeled off seven consecutive wins to put themselves in great position to land a spot in the AL Wild Card game, but they’ll need to at least take a game or two in their final couple series with the Blue Jays and Rays to feel completely comfortable about their chances of nailing that berth down.

Injury Notes: Cousins, Andrus, Loaisiga, Taillon, Cisnero

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The Brewers placed righty Jake Cousins on the 10-day injured list due to a right biceps strain, as right-hander Miguel Sanchez was called up from Triple-A to take Cousins’ spot on the active roster.  Speaking with The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak and other reporters, Brewers GM Matt Arnold described Cousins’ injury as “nothing major,” adding that “We just want to be careful.  It’s that time of year where we want to make sure he’s available in a playoff capacity.”

Considering that Cousins didn’t even make his MLB debut until June 21, his status as a potential postseason weapon is a sign of how well he has performed during his rookie season.  Cousins has a 2.70 ERA over 30 relief innings, along with an eye-popping 35.2% strikeout rate — not far off his minor league numbers since joining the Milwaukee organization in 2019.  While Cousins’ control hasn’t been nearly as impressive (15.2% walk rate), opponents haven’t been able to take much advantage, as Cousins has been carving up batters with his wipeout slider.

More on other injury situations around baseball…

  • While scoring the game-winning run in the Athletics’ 2-1 walkoff win over the Astros today, Elvis Andrus suffered a left ankle injury and had to be helped off the field.  A’s manager Bob Melvin told MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos and other reporters that Andrus is getting x-rays after “feeling a pop” in his ankle.  More will be known after Andrus has been tested, but it certainly looks like the 33-year-old’s season could be over, as the shortstop could be facing a serious injury.  It has been a tough year overall for Andrus, as he has hit only .243/.294/.320 over 541 plate appearances in his first season in Oakland.
  • The Yankees could have Jonathan Loaisiga and Jameson Taillon back from the injured list during the club’s upcoming series against the Blue Jays, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including ESPN’s Marly Rivera and Newsday’s Erik Boland).  Loaisiga was sidelined on September 5 with a strained right rotator cuff, but the reliever has already thrown one bullpen session and will throw another soon, Boone said.  Taillon has missed close to the game amount of time with an ankle injury, though he has been on a minor league rehab assignment and threw a bullpen today.
  • Jose Cisnero’s IL stint has lasted beyond the minimum 10 days, and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News) that while Cisnero hasn’t yet been shut down, a return this season is “improbable.”  Cisnero has been hampered by swelling around the right elbow laceration that first sent him to the injured list back on September 14.  If this is it for the right-hander in 2021, Cisnero will finish with a 3.65 ERA over 61 2/3 innings, marking his third consecutive year of solid work out of Detroit’s bullpen.

Yankees Place Jonathan Loaisiga On IL With Strained Rotator Cuff

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The Yankees are placing righty Jonathan Loaisiga on the IL with a right shoulder strain, per a team announcement. Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters, including Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, that the strain is in Loaisiga’s rotator cuff and he won’t throw for at least 10 days. (Twitter links) Fellow right-handed Albert Abreu has been recalled to take Loaisiga’s place on the roster.

This is very unfortunate news for both Loaisiga and the team, as the righty is having the best season of his career so far and has been one of the most valuable pitchers on the team. Through 68 innings out of the Yankees’ bullpen this year, he has an ERA of 2.25. His 24.2% strikeout rate is actually close to league average, but his 5.5% walk rate and 61.3% groundball rate are both excellent. On the season, he’s been worth 2.2 wins above replacement, according to FanGraphs, third-most among Yankees pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery, and tied with Josh Hader for the most among all relievers in baseball.

It’s unclear exactly how much time he will miss, but with less than a month left in the season, there’s not a lot of wiggle room remaining. If he is to miss “at least” 10 days, that means the best-case scenario would see him start throwing again September 15th. At that point, he would presumably have to throw a bullpen or two to assess his health and perhaps go on a rehab assignment before returning to the big-league club.

The Yankees are 7 1/2 games behind the Rays in the AL East but are currently holding the first AL Wild Card spot, half a game ahead of the Red Sox and 4 1/2 ahead of the Athletics and Mariners.

Latest On Yankees’ COVID-19 Situation

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JULY 16: Testing today has turned up zero new positive cases, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). However, Boone added that six Yankees players have been confirmed positive within the past week and are expected to miss at least ten days, suggesting that follow-up testing on Judge, Urshela and Higashioka has confirmed their positive results. Friday’s game against the Red Sox will be played, with yesterday’s postponement to be made up as part of a doubleheader on August 17.

JULY 15, 5:20 pm: Judge is indeed the Yankees All-Star in question, The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham reports (via Twitter).  Gio Urshela, and Kyle Higashioka are the other two Yankees in COVID protocol, ESPN’s Buster Olney tweets.

JULY 15, 5:05 pm: Rafael Devers and other Red Sox All-Star representatives were asked to undergo additional COVID-19 testing after being told that one of the Yankees’ All-Star reps tested positive, ESPN’s Marly Rivera (Twitter links) reports.  This would indicate at least one of Aaron Judge, Aroldis Chapman, or Gerrit Cole — Cole was replaced on the All-Star roster but was still present during festivities.

JULY 15, 3:39 pm: Tonight’s game between the Red Sox and Yankees has been postponed due to a COVID-19 situation within the Yankees’ clubhouse, as originally reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).  Major League Baseball released an official announcement about the postponement, noting “positive COVID-19 tests within the New York Yankees organization.”  There isn’t yet any word about a make-up date for tonight’s contest, and it isn’t yet known if any other games in the scheduled four-game series could be in jeopardy.

Speaking with The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler (all links to Twitter) and other reporters, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said the club has six ongoing COVID-19 cases, all of players.  Cashman confirmed that the three players currently on the Yankees’ COVID-related injury list (left-handers Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta, and righty Jonathan Loaisiga) all tested positive for the virus, while three other potential cases are pending confirmation of positive results.  ESPN’s Marly Rivera reports that “at least two” of the positive COVID tests were delivered by Yankees position players.

Most importantly, Cashman indicated that the cases appear to be asymptomatic, saying “As of right now, everybody is ok.”  The Yankees as a whole have passed the league’s mandated 85% vaccination rate , though Cashman said that only “most” of the six players had received vaccines.  Cortes, Peralta, and Loaisiga had all been vaccinated.

Cortes and Peralta were placed on the COVID-19 list earlier today, while Loaisiga’s placement came back on July 10.  Loaisiga has yet to rejoin the team from their road trip in Houston, Cashman said, as the right-hander has been quarantined.

This is the second time the Yankees have been hit with a COVID outbreak this season, after eight players and coaches tested positive for the virus back in May.  (New York manager Aaron Boone told Adler and other reporters today that Gleyber Torres’ positive test at the time was actually a false positive.)  That outbreak didn’t result in any postponed games, as while COVID-IL placements have still been rather common this season, today’s Red Sox/Yankees matchup is the only the eighth game of the season to be postponed for COVID-related reasons.  The other seven postponements all took place prior to April 19.

COVID Notes: 7/10/21

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The latest on coronavirus situations from around baseball…

  • Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm was removed from today’s game in the eighth inning for what manager Joe Girardi described only as reasons related to “COVID protocols.”  Officials aren’t required to provide detailed information about COVID-19 situations, and Girardi just told reporters (including NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman) that “we’ll know more as time goes on.  That’s all I can give you right now.”  It isn’t yet known if Bohm will be placed on the actual COVID-related injury list, and such a placement isn’t necessarily a sure thing — in the event of a close contact situation or perhaps an inconclusive test result, Bohm could be cleared in time for Sunday’s game with the Red Sox.  Following a very impressive 2020 rookie season, Bohm has hit a sophomore slump, hitting only .243/.298/.343 with six home runs in 329 PA this year.
  • The Yankees placed right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga on the COVID-related injury list prior to today’s game with the Astros.  Along with the placement of Miguel Andujar on the regular 10-day IL due to a left wrist strain, New York called up right-handers Albert Abreu and Brooks Kriske from Triple-A to fill the spots on the 26-man roster.  Yankees manager Aaron Boone also didn’t give specifics on Loaisiga’s status to MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters, except to say that Loaisiga “feels good.”  The righty has been a force out of the Yankees’ bullpen this season, posting a 2.11 ERA, 63.9% grounder rate, an outstanding 5.5% walk rate and an above-average 25.1% strikeout rate over 47 innings.

Yankees Reinstate Giancarlo Stanton, Gio Urshela, Jonathan Loaisiga From Injured List

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The Yankees announced that outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, infielder Gio Urshela and right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga have all been reinstated from the 10-day injured list.  Miguel Andujar and Mike Ford were optioned to the alternate training site in corresponding moves, and the Yankees already had an open roster space since right-hander Clarke Schmidt was optioned after Sunday’s game.

Stanton hit the IL with a left hamstring strain back on August 9, and the Yankees and their fans are hoping that the slugger can finally enjoy a sustained run of healthy play after almost two full seasons of inactivity due to various leg injuries.  Stanton played in only 18 games in 2019 and appeared in 14 games this season before going on the injured list, with this year’s absence being particularly disappointing since Stanton was off to a huge start (hitting .293/.453/.585 with three homers in 54 PA).

However, Stanton’s return gives him time to get ramped up prior to the postseason, as the Yankees are starting to get healthy at perhaps just the right time.  Urshela will back to action after a minimal 10-day placement due to a bone spur in his right elbow, and the third baseman has followed up his breakout 2019 campaign with a strong .272/.358/.515 slash line and six homers in 120 PA this season.  Aaron Judge is also expected to soon return from a calf injury.

Loaisiga’s return is also welcome news for the Yankees, especially considering the rather unusual nature of his IL placement.  On September 4, the Yankees said Loaisiga was suffering from “a medical condition that prevents him from playing and necessitates placement on the injured list,” with manager Aaron Boone later specifying that the right-hander’s absence was not due to COVID-19.  Regardless, it is good to see Loaisiga back in relatively quick fashion.  The 25-year-old has a 3.18 ERA, 5.00 K/BB rate, and 10.6 K/9 over 17 innings this season.

Yankees Place Gio Urshela, Jonathan Loaisiga On Injured List

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The Yankees announced Friday that third baseman Gio Urshela and right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga have been placed on the 10-day injured list. Urshela is dealing with a bone spur in his right elbow, while Loasigia has “a medical condition that prevents him from playing and necessitates placement on the injured list,” per the team’s release. Manager Aaron Boone tells reporters (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler) that Loaisiga’s condition is not Covid-19 related. Infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar and righty Miguel Yajure are up from the team’s alternate site.

Urshela, 28, has continued last year’s breakout showing in 2020, getting out to a very strong .272/.358/.515 start at the plate and swatting six homers in his first 120 plate appearances. He heads to the injured list, alongside shortstop Gleyber Torres, less than a week after DJ LeMahieu returned from the injured list. The Yankees are also without key sluggers Aaron Judge (strained calf) and Giancarlo Stanton (strained hamstring).

There’s no further information on Loaisiga at this point. It’s a rather ominous update on the 25-year-old righty, who has pitched quite well in 17 frames with the Yankees in 2020. Loaisiga has a 20-to-4 K/BB ratio and a 3.18 ERA in that short time, and he’s also induced grounders at a solid 48.8 percent clip. His absence will be felt by the Yankee pitching staff, but the greater concern is his overall well-being. Best wishes to the young right-hander on a full recovery.

Latest On James Paxton, Yankees’ Rotation

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Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake told reporters Wednesday that left-hander James Paxton is progressing well in his rehab from back surgery (Twitter links via Brendan Kuty of the New Jersey Star-Ledger). The left-hander went under the knife in early February, after which the Yankees announced a timetable of three to four months for his recovery. Paxton is throwing at his home in Wisconsin, and the club is optimistic about his recovery.

As notably, Blake revealed that right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga would’ve factored “heavily” into the team’s rotation picture had the season begun on time. Absent Paxton, Luis Severino and Domingo German, it was clear that left-hander Jordan Montgomery was the team’s fourth starter (behind Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ). Loaisiga was one of many candidates vying for the fifth spot — a race that also included Mike King, Deivi Garcia, Luis Cessa and perhaps non-roster invitees such as Chad Bettis and Nick Tropeano.

Loaisiga’s standing could be rendered moot with Opening Day pushed back indefinitely, as it appears increasingly likely that Paxton could be ready to suit up when (or if) the season does eventually commence. But it’s nevertheless telling that Loaisiga appears to have had a leg up on his competitors, as that could provide some insight into the organization’s contingency plans in the event of additional early-season injuries.

The 25-year-old Loaisiga has been plagued by durability issues himself, including last season, when a shoulder strain limited him to 80 2/3 innings between the minors and the big leagues. However, MLB.com and Baseball Prospectus both ranked him among baseball’s 100 best prospects prior to the ’19 season. In a combined 88 2/3 minor league innings from 2017-18, he posted a 2.60 ERA with a 100-to-11 K/BB ratio.

AL Notes: Yankees’ Rotation, Royals, Perez

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Some notes on the Yankees and Royals to kick off Sunday morning:

  • Jordan Montgomery is the “overwhelming favorite” for the fourth spot in the Yankees’ rotation, notes George King III of the New York Post. That’s not especially surprising, given that the lefty’s Tommy John procedure is now 21 months behind him. The 27-year-old’s strong 2017 rookie season positions him well to step up in the wake of injuries to Luis Severino and James Paxton. The final spot in the rotation is still entirely up for grabs, although King feels Jonathan Loaisiga is the early frontrunner. Surprisingly, King notes that right-hander Clarke Schmidt could be in the fifth starter mix after turning some heads early in spring training. The 24-year-old was the Yankees’ first-round pick out of the University of South Carolina in 2017, but he’s made all of three career starts above High-A, thanks largely to rehab from a Tommy John of his own. That, coupled with Schmidt’s roster status (he needn’t be added to the 40-man until after this season), would seem to make him a long shot for a season-opening role.
  • One pitcher who might not be as strong a contender for the Yankees’ final rotation spot is Luis Cessa, whom King says the club “seemingly likes…in the bullpen.” That jibes with a similar report from Bryan Hoch of MLB.com earlier this week, although Hoch’s report came before news broke of Severino’s season-ending Tommy John surgery. From the outside, it appeared that blow could have changed the calculus on Cessa’s potential usage, but it seems he’s still more likely to occupy a bullpen role in 2020. The 27-year-old has started 19 of his 86 career MLB appearances, but he was used exclusively as a reliever in 2019.
  • Salvador Pérez logged four innings behind the plate in the Royals’ spring training game Friday (h/t to the Associated Press). That marked his first catching action since his Tommy John surgery last March. “It was kind of like Opening Day — once you catch the first pitch, it’s a regular game,” Pérez said postgame, via the AP. “I blocked some balls, threw to second base between innings. It was all great.” At last check, the 29-year-old was on track to be ready for Opening Day. In 2018, Pérez hit just .235/.274/.439 (89 wRC+), but he’s long shouldered extremely high workloads behind the plate in Kansas City.

Latest On Yankees’ Rotation

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The Yankees’ rotation looked set when the month of February started, but the back surgery left-hander James Paxton recently underwent threw a wrench in their plans. They’re now lacking an obvious answer after Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ. The team will give plenty of hurlers chances to emerge as its No. 5 during spring training, though, as Bryan Hoch of MLB.com relays.

General manager Brian Cashman on Wednesday named five pitchers – Luis Cessa, Deivi Garcia, Jonathan Loaisiga, Michael King and Jordan Montgomery – as candidates to take the last spot in New York’s rotation. The leader may be the 27-year-old Montgomery, who had an impressive rookie campaign in 2017 but hasn’t been much of a factor since then because of injury troubles. Montgomery underwent Tommy John surgery in June 2018 after throwing a mere 27 1/3 innings that year, though he did make a late-season return to a major league mound in 2019. Manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday that Montgomery’s now “in a good place” with respect to his health.

As for Montgomery’s competition, Cessa and Loaisiga have each garnered a decent amount of experience at the game’s highest level. Cessa’s heater checks in around 95 mph, but it hasn’t led to great results in the majors. He’s the owner of a 4.50 ERA/4.98 FIP with 7.37 K/9 and 2.91 BB/9 in 232 career innings. Most of his work (67 of 86 appearances) has come as a reliever. Cessa is out of minor league options, so he could end up in another organization if he doesn’t make the Yankees this spring.

Loaisiga can throw even harder than Cessa (96-97 mph), and he’s a former top-100 prospect, but his MLB production hasn’t been special, either. While Loaisiga recorded a tremendous strikeout rate of 11.18 per nine in his first 56 1/3 innings as a Yankee from 2018-19, he walked almost five per nine and only registered a 4.79 ERA/4.33 FIP. Moreover, the right-hander dealt with shoulder problems last season.

Neither Garcia nor King has appeared in the majors yet, but there’s plenty of promise in the two cases. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked the 20-year-old Garcia as the game’s 42nd-best prospect Wednesday, calling the 5-foot-10, 163-pounder  “a diminutive firecracker righty with a beautiful curveball.” However, because of his size, there are questions about Garcia’s durability. He also didn’t put up great numbers last year as an extremely young Triple-A pitcher, as he managed a subpar 5.40 ERA/5.77 FIP with 10.13 K/9 and 4.5 BB/9 over 40 innings at the level.

King, 24, racked up a combined 62 2/3 innings in Triple-A from 2018-19, pitching to a sterling 2.30 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in that span. He even made a one-appearance MLB debut last season, and currently ranks as the Yankees’ 19th-best prospect at MLB.com.

Considering how volatile the back end of most teams’ rotations are, it’s entirely possible (maybe even likely) that more than one of the above hurlers will start games for the Yankees as they await Paxton’s return. The World Series hopefuls figure to get Paxton back early in the summer, so those who wind up filling his spot could be on borrowed time in that role.

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