Struggling Reliever May Have Bought Himself More Time With the Yankees

The New York Yankees are in a desperate bid to get quality innings after a poor deadline.

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone will need to hope that guys like Ryan Yarbrough can step up to help out an overworked bullpen. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Gerrit Cole was the hero of that final game against the Baltimore Orioles, in which the New York Yankees not only won but also swept their division rival. Cole had a few hiccups in his start on Thursday night. He had a 25-pitch first inning, allowed a home run to Dylan Beavers, of all hitters, but ended up pitching six sparkling innings of one-run ball, with eight strikeouts, a walk, and four hits.

Next up on the hero list is none other than the left-handed long-relief option, Ryan Yarbrough, who seldom gets opportunities these days, and when he does, he has hemorrhaged runs. The Yankees needed Yarbrough to hold the fort down, giving them as many innings as he could to preserve the taxed bullpen and, hopefully, avoid using the high-leverage arms of David Bednar, Brent Headrick, and Paul Blackburn.

Yarbrough did just that. He collected his third save of the year after pitching three scoreless innings. He struck out four and didn't allow a hit or a walk.

Great pitch by Yarbrough and great challenge by Wells pic.twitter.com/xta66mfmtG

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 21, 2026

With roster crunches expected, Yarbrough is one of the guys whose job is on thin ice. Despite this outing, he has struggled in the few games he has gotten in. Since July, he has pitched in just 14.1 innings. He has allowed eight runs. Two were unearned, but the issue with Yarbrough has been allowing inherited runners to score when he does come in.

Where does Yarbrough fit when Yankees' rotation is healthy?

It will be interesting to see what the Yankees do once their rotation is whole and Max Fried returns from what's supposed to be a brief stint on the injured list. One of Ryan Weathers or Will Warren will be headed to the bullpen. That means the Yankees will need to oust somebody from the main roster.

Instead of designating Yarbrough for assignment, there are a few directions the Yankees can go. They can send Bradley Hanner back to Triple-A. Hanner has one appearance in the big leagues and has three options left.

Yerry De los Santos is another name they can send back to the minors. He currently has one option left and has been lower on the depth chart than Yarbrough.

When the New York Yankees starting rotation returns to full strength, reliever Yerry de Los Santos (center) could be the odd man out, and not Ryan Yarbrough. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Whether Yarbrough should get big postseason innings is another conversation entirely. For now, he should be used to eat innings and keep the overworked bullpen's arms fresh. That, in itself, is an important task, and likely isn't one that De los Santos or Hanner can perform effectively.

Yarbrough hasn't been good, and it wouldn't surprise anyone if the Yankees did DFA him once the team is healthy, but if he can use this outing as a building block, there is certainly value to what he does.

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