Ryan Yarbrough Is on Yankees' Chopping Block 3 Weeks Before September Call-Ups

The New York Yankees roster is beginning to fill out, and Ryan Yarbrough could be the odd man out.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough could find himself out of a job this time next month. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In late Spring, it looked like the New York Yankees would be whole. Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole were returning to the rotation, and one of Ryan Weathers or Will Warren would get pushed to the bullpen. That meant somebody was going to lose their spot on the team, and, back then, Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn seemed to serve the same purpose. They were long relievers, and between them there wasn't a wrong answer about who should get the axe.

Things are a little different now. The Yankees are close to being whole, and with Rodón on the mend, the rotation will finally be whole. This time, once Warren or Weathers head to the pen, it won't be Blackburn who should be considered for being designated for assignment, but rather Yarbrough.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Ryan Weathers (40) could be one of the hurlers who gets moved to the bullpen for the final part of the season. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Blackburn not only turned his season around, but has also become a capable setup man for David Bednar. Yarbrough, on the other hand, has gone in the opposite direction.

Yarbrough is the odd man out in the bullpen

Since June 2nd, Yarbrough has allowed 17 runs in 24.1 IP. 10 of those runs were earned, but the issue with Yarbrough is more about letting inherited runners score. If he isn't able to do that, and Weathers eats up those innings in higher-leverage roles, his place in the bullpen becomes even less useful than it already is.

A couple of other names to look out for when September call-ups roll around and rosters expand are Elmer Rodriguez and potentially a veteran like Rafael Montero. Rodriguez could be an innings eater, all while the Yankees get another look at him at the big league level. Lower-leverage roles could be good for his development as he gets time against better competition.

Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Rafael Montero could be a call-up candidate for the New York Yankees next month. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

As for Montero, he has struggled in Triple-A, but he has a solid 27% strikeout rate and 10.7% walk rate. Opponents also have a 39.2% hard-hit rate and 2.7% barrel rate. Just by Montero's ability to produce strikeouts, he has a higher ceiling than Yarbrough.

The weird thing about Yarbrough is that, by all accounts, he should be better than what he has shown. He has a 100th percentile 82.9 MPH average exit velocity and a 100th percentile 22.5% hard-hit rate.

Few pitchers in baseball are also better at keeping the ball off the barrel of a bat. His 3.6% barrel rate is in the 95th percentile. On top of this, he has an expected ERA of 3.42 and an expected batting average of .226.

There's a chance that while Yarbrough could be cut, the Yankees may end up demoting him once Weathers or Warren heads to the bullpen. They may not want to outright cut him and use him when a game is out of reach. The peripherals are nice, and one can argue that he has fallen into some bad luck, but it isn't enough to keep him out there and getting important innings.

If the Yankees do decide to keep Yarbrough, if a game is within three runs, that should be somebody else's spot. The soft-tossing southpaw just hasn't shown enough to handle those situations, nor should he have a shot to prove himself either.

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