Yankees place Luis Severino on the disabled list; call up Chad Green and Conor Mullee

Luis Severino's sophomore season is only getting worse. After getting blasted by the White Sox last night, the 22-year-old pitcher was removed from the game when he grabbed his right elbow on the mound. The Yankees were clear to say that it was a back elbow injury–not related to a UCL strain–but most feared the worst. An MRI revealed a right triceps strain and Severino has been put on the 15-day disabled list. Maybe the injury is the reason for his struggles, or maybe it gives him time to get healthy and get things right.

To fill the roster, the Yankees have called up Chad Green from Triple-A. He's impressed with a 1.22 ERA and 2.11 FIP, as well as a 8.76 K/9 and 2.92 BB/9 in 37 innings for Scranton, but it's unclear how they plan to use him. With CC Sabathia due back from the disabled list soon, that could be how they plan to fill the rotation instead of him replacing Ivan Nova. Green was acquired with Luis Cessa from the Tigers in the Justin Wilson trade, showing how useful that deal has been for the Yankees already. Despite Cessa's poor MLB debut in April, he's been solid at the minor league level. Green himself looked disappointing in spring training before turning things around.

In a move that no one expected, the team is also calling up Triple-A reliever Conor Mullee. From 2011-2013 the 28-year-old right-hander only pitched five innings thanks to three different elbow surgeries (one of which was Tommy John surgery). He came back strong in 2014 and 2015 before dominating with Scranton this season, pitching to a 1.02 ERA and 1.33 FIP with an impressive 11.72 K/9 and 2.55 BB/9 in 17.2 innings. He was never expected to make it, but this is a pleasant surprise. After the loss of Branden Pinder and Nick Rumbelow, hopefully Mullee can offer some much-needed bullpen depth.

To accommodate these moves, Gary Sanchez has been optioned back to Triple-A, while both Greg Bird and Bryan Mitchell have been transferred to the 60-day DL.