The New York Yankees announced that pitcher Allan Winans has been called up from Triple-A to start Monday’s game versus the Cincinnati Reds.
Winans, 29, has been impressive in 11 appearances (nine starts) for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, compiling an 0.90 ERA and 7-0 record with 59 strikeouts in 50 innings. The Yankees invited him to spring training after two seasons with the Atlanta Braves and he nearly won a rotation spot before being assigned to Triple-A.
The Yankees are hoping Winans provides some stability to their starting rotation, at least in the short term, after the team placed Ryan Yarbrough on the 15-day injured list with a right oblique strain.
Prior to the injury, Yarbrough made 16 appearances (eight starts) for the Yankees, posting a 3.90 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings. Home runs have been an issue for him this season with 10 allowed thus far.
Soreness was a concern during his past two starts, according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
“After his last start, he was pretty sore the next day,” Boone told reporters on Sunday, via the Associated Press. “Then before he was getting ready to throw his side the other day felt like couldn’t quite do it.”
Yarbrough became the latest Yankees starting pitcher to go on the IL, joining Gerrit Cole (out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery), Luis Gil (lat strain) and Marcus Stroman (left knee inflammation).
Stroman is expected to rejoin the Yankees’ rotation next week, pending the results of his third minor-league rehab start on Tuesday.
Winans will become the eighth starter to pitch for the Yankees this season, which is as many as the team used last year.
“He’s been tremendous. To be this deep in the season as a starting pitcher, have sub-1 (ERA), it’s been really, really excellent,” Boone told reporters. “So, hopefully, he brings some of that up here with us tomorrow.”
Winans was a 17th-round draft pick by the New York Mets in 2018 out of Campbell University in North Carolina. After three seasons with the Mets, the Braves selected him in the Rule 5 Draft. He made eight starts for Atlanta during the past two seasons, collecting a 7.20 ERA with 38 strikeouts in 40 innings.
Going into Monday’s game, the Yankees are 45-32 with a 2.5-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
