Yankees roster moves: Matt Tracy called up, Chasen Shreve optioned

The Yankees played 19 innings on Friday and the bullpen pitched 13.2 of those innings just to lose to the Red Sox 6–5, so roster moves were coming. Chasen Shreve threw 3.1 innings and Esmil Rogers pitched 4.2, so it's no surprise they would want to get a fresh arm up from the minors. The surprising part was who they called up–Matt Tracy. Not even invited to major league spring training, Tracy is a 26-year-old left-handed starter who looked destined as an organizational footnote. He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2014 and pitched to a 4.45 ERA over 62.2 innings. This is his one shot.

In order to get him on the roster, the Yankees moved Ivan Nova to the 60-day disabled list. The unfortunate thing is that, since he has options left, Chase Shreve was optioned to Triple-A. After his performance in Friday's marathon he definitely didn't deserve to be sent down, but he was the only real option they had. They have plenty of left-handed relievers, but they lack righties, which is why someone like Chris Martin wasn't sent down.

What this move says is that the Yankees won't be adding anyone like Jacob Lindgren, Tyler Webb, or Nick Rumbelow for a job like this. It's not a role that has a lot of security, because Tracy, or whoever comes up for something like this, won't be around for very long. With the Yankees giving Tracy a chance, it also means good things for players like Jaron Long, Zach Nuding, and James Pazos, who might not normally get a shot in the majors, but could be among potential call ups this season.