Yankees select Josh Maciejewski, shuffle up bullpen.
Maciejewski up, Cousins down, Andrew to roster limbo. Got all that?
The Yankees are 8-2 over their first 10 games, but with ace Gerrit Cole on the IL and only so-so performances from most of the starting rotation, their bullpen has seen quite a bit of work since Opening Day. Among the 28 teams whose seasons began on March 28th, the Yankees’ bullpen is tied for third in total innings at 40.2, trailing only the Cubs and team they’ll face over the next three days, the Marlins.
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Since both Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil only went 4.1 innings each on Saturday and Sunday, it seemed especially likely that a new reliever might enter the fray ahead of this series against Miami. Sure enough, that’s what the Yankees announced on Monday afternoon.
Southpaw Josh Maciejewski was called up from Triple-A Scranton. The 28-year-old was a 10th-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft, and if gets into a game, it’ll be his MLB debut. He would also be just the 10th player in history to make the majors out of UNC-Charlotte and the first since former Mets righty John Maine.
Maciejewski has thrown 4.2 scoreless innings for the RailRiders in the early goings, striking out five with just two hits and one walk. His primary offering is a sinker, which induced 5 whiffs on 10 swings during his most recent game for Scranton. He’ll also mix in a slider and a changeup. Maciejewski had a 49.3-percent ground-ball rate in 23.2 innings at Triple-A late last year, though he also spent some time in Double-A Somerset and High-A Hudson Valley.
Jake Cousins drew the short straw from the New York bullpen to make room for Maciejewski. The man perhaps better known as Kirk Cousins’ cousin (no joke) was optioned to Triple-A after a couple of up-and-down appearances. Lefty Clayton Andrews, who was acquired from Milwaukee in a minor mid-February trade, was designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster. He was already down in Scranton, so the Yankees will have to wait and see if he clears waivers.
The full roster move announcement can be read below.
