The Yankees have no plans to bring Aaron Judge to the big leagues when rosters expand in September. Judge remains the Yankees’ top offensive prospect, but he’s hitting just .232 in Triple-A, he will not be Rule 5 eligible this winter, and there’s currently no clear role for him to play in New York.
“Just like last year with (Rob) Refsnyder, we’re not going to bring somebody just to bring them,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “Greg Bird came up because there was a need, and obviously he was performing well. In Judge’s case, there’s currently not a need.”
The Yankees are not down on Judge based on his Triple-A struggles, but they see little sense in having him unnecessarily clog a 40-man roster spot all winter just to come up and get a taste of the big leagues. With Carlos Beltran hitting as well as anyone on the team, there’s no need for a right fielder, and Judge has not performed at a level that suggests he could significantly upgrade over Alex Rodriguez at DH or Chris Young as a platoon outfielder.
Judge opened the season in Double-A and made his Triple-A debut on June 22. In 185 at-bats since then, he’s hit .232/.319/.405 with 61 strikeouts and eight homers. His power has jumped in the month of August, but that power surge has come with only a .200 batting average for the month.
“It’s good that he’s going through it,” Cashman said. “You’d rather have that stuff happen in the minor leagues as they make adjustments and figure out what they have to do on a daily basis to stay positive.”
A few other notes about September call-ups:
Gary Sanchez is hurt; status unknown
The Yankees top upper-level catcher, Gary Sanchez, left last night’s Triple-A game with a hamstring injury. Sanchez is on the 40-man roster, he’s played well this season, and teams almost always add third catchers in September. For those reasons, I think of Sanchez as a near lock for a call-up as long as he’s healthy. The Yankees, though, are not sure whether last night’s injury has put September at risk.
“I have no idea,” Cashman said.
If Sanchez is too injured to play, I imagine the Yankees would find a way to get Austin Romine back on the roster to serve as catching depth. He’s played well in Triple-A this season.
Jacob Lindgren probably won’t be ready
Arguably the top bullpen prospect in the organization, last year’s top draft pick Jacob Lindgren has been called up already this season, but an elbow injury might keep him from returning in September. Lindgren had surgery to remove a bone spur, and while he’s started a throwing program, he’s not even throwing bullpens yet, much less pitching in games.
Cashman said that right now he’s not expecting to bring Lindgren back to the big leagues in September. He said the team hasn’t discussed yet whether they should put him on the 60-day disabled list to open a spot for someone else.
Rico Noel is a legitimate possibility
One of the more unusual September call-up candidates is outfielder Rico Noel, a career minor leaguer who was released by the Padres earlier this season. The 26-year-old has big-time speed, and the Yankees see him as a potential pinch runner who could also play some outfield defense.
“That’s what we’re talking about,” Cashman said. “Is he a possibility? Yes.”
In the month of August, Noel has played in 10 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In eight of those games, he entered as a pinch runner, and in those games he’s 5-for-8 stolen base attempts. He stole a base yesterday but was also thrown out on another attempt. In his minor league career Noel has 280 stolen bases and he’s been caught 61 times. The Yankees have the minors’ stolen base leader for this season, but Jorge Mateo is not close to Rule 5 eligibility and it’s basically impossible to imagine the Yankees would actually add him to the roster just to pinch run. Noel, on the other hand, could play that role for a month and then give his roster spot to someone else this winter.
Chances are, Chris Capuano will be back
For the fourth time this season, the Yankees have designated Chris Capuano for assignment. If he clears waivers, chances are, he’ll be back in New York at some point.
“The only difference there is he’s been back and forth so much, we’ve got to get him back on a routine,” Cashman said.
Cashman pointed out that Capuano has to clear waivers before the Yankees can really put a plan in place, and he would not commit to absolutely bringing him back, but it seems clear that the Yankees want Capuano to play his familiar role of eating innings whenever necessary. The Triple-A rotation has been thinned out, so I assume Capuano could end up back with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make a few starts into the playoffs just to get him back into the swing of things before he returns.
The Yankees won’t hold back on September 1
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is a first-place team with a schedule that runs through September 7 plus the playoffs beyond that. It’s also a team that’s about to take a major hit.
“I hate to say it,” Cashman said. “But I’m not going to care about Scranton. I’m going to care about New York. If there’s somebody down there we think can help, they’re coming.”
Earlier today, Cashman told Bryan Hoch that Rob Refsnyder will be among those call-ups (which seems pretty obvious, but confirmation is a good thing). He also told Hoch that it’s “all hands on deck” for guys on the 40-man roster, which suggests guys like Slade Heathcott, Jose Pirela, Chris Martin, Caleb Cotham and — once eligible to return — Nick Rumbelow and Nick Goody will also be brought up. I suppose the Yankees could make some 40-man changes to add other guys as well. Noel, Andrew Bailey, James Pazos and Ben Gamel stand out as non-40-man guys who could be candidates, though aside from Noel, Cashman didn’t comment on the possibility of any of those being added.
It’s worth noting that the Yankees have several intriguing prospects who need to be protected from the Rule 5 draft this offseason — Gamel, Pazos, Johnny Barbato, Jake Cave, etc. — but Cashman said no one will be called up strictly because he needs Rule 5 protection. If the Yankees want to protect a guy, but don’t necessarily think he can help in the big leagues right away, they’ll wait until the offseason to put him on the roster. I would think that rules out some of the Double-A guys like Cave and Tony Renda.
“I’m not bringing anybody unless they can help New York, period,” Cashman said.
Associated Press photos
The post Yankees not planning to call-up Aaron Judge (plus other September notes) appeared first on The LoHud Yankees Blog.
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