{"id":751889,"date":"2026-06-21T16:33:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T16:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/751889\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T16:33:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T16:33:17","slug":"yankees-optioning-jake-bird-opens-door-for-another-relievers-mlb-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/751889\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Optioning Jake Bird Opens Door for Another Reliever’s MLB Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Yankees finally gave their bullpen a much-needed shake-up<\/a> on Saturday. Following a 10-2 loss to the Reds, the Yankees announced that right-handed reliever Jake Bird\u2014along with catcher J.C. Escarra\u2014had been optioned to Triple-A Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Following today\u2019s game, the Yankees optioned RHP Jake Bird and C J.C. Escarra to Triple-A Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre.<\/p>\n

\u2014 New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 20, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

The writing has been on the wall<\/a> for Bird, who was acquired before last year’s trade deadline, since mid-April. The 30-year-old has been an unreliable relief option for the Yankees, pitching to a 4.88 ERA with three blown saves in 24 innings over 29 outings, all while conceding a career-worst .473 slugging percentage to opposing batters. <\/p>\n

With Bird optioned, the Yankees promoted Elmer Rodr\u00edguez from Triple-A<\/a> to start in Sunday’s series finale with the Reds. Considering that Rodr\u00edguez’s promotion is only happening to give the other starters extra rest, per manager Aaron Boone, there’s a decent chance that he’ll return to the RailRiders soon, which would allow New York to make another call-up. <\/p>\n

And if that’s the case, a certain 26-year-old pitcher deserves another look with the Yankees. <\/p>\n

Yankees should consider a Yovanny Cruz call-up after Jake Bird’s demotion <\/p>\n

The Yankees will make it a priority to bolster their bullpen before the Aug. 3 trade deadline. At the same time, general manager Brian Cashman might want to save his prospects for the bigger fish in the pond (Ex. a potential Tarik Skubal trade<\/a>), meaning it could be wise for New York to explore internal options, such as Yovanny Cruz. <\/p>\n

\"Yovanny<\/p>\n

Yovanny Cruz deserves another chance to work out of the Yankees’ bullpen this season. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

After spending time with the Cubs, Padres and Red Sox, Cruz joined the Yankees via a minor-league contract<\/a> back in November. The Dominican hurler has spent the majority of the 2026 campaign in Scranton and hasn’t disappointed, going 5-3 with a 3.46 ERA and 36 strikeouts across 26 innings in 22 appearances. He’s finished six games and even notched a pair of saves, with that success stemming from an impressive strikeout rate of 11.6 Ks per nine innings.<\/p>\n

Digging deeper into his Triple-A performance, Cruz is limiting the opposition to a .186 expected batting average<\/a>\u2014among the 81st percentile, according to Prospect Savant. He also boasts a 32.1% strikeout rate (86th percentile) and 33.2% chase rate (84th), as well as a blistering 39.9% whiff rate (95th) thanks to a slider that can fool anyone. <\/p>\n

A potential promotion would mark Cruz’s second stint with the big-league club this season. The Yankees briefly promoted him in May<\/a> and the experiment went well, as Cruz pitched 2 1\/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts and only one hit allowed before returning to Triple-A. It was also impressive to see what his slider could do at the MLB level. <\/p>\n

Yovanny Cruz makes his MLB Debut!!<\/p>\n

Cruz strikes out Okamoto for his first Major League Punchout!!<\/p>\n

Nasty 90 MPH slider for the K\u2b07\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/MGVJ25ujPL<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Cai Rogers (@cai_rogers7) May 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Admittedly, Cruz hasn’t thrived since returning to the majors, as evidenced by his 5.68 ERA and 0-2 record through five outings (6 1\/3 innings) in June. Having said that, he’s still averaging a whopping 14.2 Ks per nine innings this month, so it hasn’t been all bad. His 3.33 strikeouts per walk in June is also his second-best effort of any month so far, trailing only April (7.00). <\/p>\n

Even if it was a small sample size, Cruz already proved that he can handle pitching out of the Yankees’ bullpen. His recent stretch hasn’t been great, sure, but an MLB call-up could potentially spark his confidence, allowing him to help New York with one of its top needs\u2014also making Cashman’s pre-deadline planning easier if Cruz proves that his success in May is replicable. <\/p>\n

After Bird’s disastrous run, it’s hard to imagine any other internal solution being worse. It’s time for the Yankees to give Cruz a shot and find out whether he can be a part of the solution or if they have to put more effort into finding an external bullpen upgrade<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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