The Yankees announced today that they have selected the contract of left-hander Josh Maciejewski. In corresponding moves, they optioned right-hander Jake Cousins and designated lefty Clayton Andrews for assignment.
The Yankees may be looking for an extra multi-inning option to have out of their bullpen. They leaned on Luke Weaver for 47 pitches on Saturday while Cousins threw 32 yesterday and three other hurlers also took the mound. Closer Clay Holmes and setup guy Ian Hamilton were able to stay on ice yesterday and each has only pitched once in the past four days, but many of their other relievers have seen heavy usage of late.
To get a fresh arm in the mix, Cousins has been optioned out and has been replaced by Maciejewski. The 28-year-old Maciejewski was a tenth-round selection of the Yankees in 2018. He’s never been one of the club’s top prospects but had a solid season last year. He tossed 45 2/3 innings over 30 appearances at three different levels, finishing the year with a collective earned run average of 2.96. He struck out 22.9% of batters faced while walking 8.5%. He’s made two Triple-A appearances already this year, tossing 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five strikeouts and one walk.
To get Maciejewski onto the 40-man, the Yanks removed Andrews, who they acquired from the Brewers in February. Andrews, 27, has a tiny sample of major league experience. He made four appearances with the Brewers last year, allowing ten earned runs in 3 1/3 innings.
His work was naturally more impressive at the Triple-A level last year, as he had a 2.53 ERA in 57 frames. His 13% walk rate was definitely on the high side but he struck out 31.1% of batters faced and kept 45.7% of balls in play on the ground. But this year, he’s logged 3 2/3 innings for the Yankees’ Triple-A club, having allowed six earned runs while walking six opponents and striking out just two.
The Yanks will now have a week to trade Andrews or pass him through waivers. He still has a couple of options and was racking up strikeouts in the minors last year, which could give him appeal to a club looking for some extra depth. But if he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, the Yankees would be able to keep him around as non-roster depth.