Yankee Reliever Nick Burdi Placed on Injured List
New York's bullpen received yet another injury blow.
Bullpen depth has been a problem so far for the New York Yankees, and it has been further exacerbated on Friday.
Prior to the Bronx Bombers' matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays, the team announced that right-handed reliever Nick Burdi has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right hip inflammation. Fellow right-hander Cody Morris was called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to replace Burdi on the roster for the time being; newly-acquired outfielder Taylor Trammell was also added to the active roster.
Burdi was a revelation for the Yankees in Spring Training, who used a combination of high velocity and nasty movement on his fastball to earn a spot on the team. So far, he has pitched 6.1 innings over seven games, and has yet to allow an earned run. Control has admittedly been an issue for him, as he's issued five walks and uncorked three wild pitches, while he's had difficulty stranding inherited runners. Nonetheless, he has allowed only two hits, making him extremely difficult to make contact against.
While Burdi could be more consistent in some areas, losing him to injury is definitely suboptimal. With the Yankees already missing Scott Effross and Tommy Kahnle, as well as losing Jonathan Loaisiga for the rest of the season, the bullpen is becoming very thin in terms of depth; arguably the only remaining bullpen arms that the Yankees can fully trust right now are Ian Hamilton and Clay Holmes, and even they have their limitations in terms of availability due to their respective duties as multi-inning reliever and closer.
To replace Burdi, the Yankees have called up Cody Morris, who they acquired from the Cleveland Guardians in December for Estevan Florial. Morris pitched 23.2 innings for the Guardians in 2022 over seven games (five starts), and recorded a 2.28 ERA. In 2023, he made six appearances, all as a reliever, and had a 6.75 ERA in eight innings.
