There’s never a dull moment with this Yankees team. According to DJ Eberle, New York will call up both Luis Cessa and Luke Voit. This must indicate a pitcher injury, since Cessa was last optioned on July 26th and can only be recalled this soon in the event of an injury. It’s possible that J.A. Happ will be placed on the DL while he recovers from hand-foot-and-mouth disease.
Cessa, 26, has pitched to a 3.10 ERA with a 4.05 FIP in sporadic big league appearances this season. His most recent start came on July 25th against the Tampa Bay Rays. Cessa allowed two runs over 5.1 innings in a tough-luck loss. I was skeptical at the right-hander coming out for the fifth inning and facing a lineup for the third time, but it’s hard to complain about those results.
For his part, Cessa isn’t quite sure how he will the Yankees will use him in Boston.
Luis Cessa wasn’t told what his role would be with the Yankees other than to be ready. Could start or come out of the bullpen. #Yankees
— DJ Eberle (@ByDJEberle) August 2, 2018
The obvious bet, however, is that he will fill in for Happ.
Voit, meanwhile, joined the organization when the Yankees traded Chasen Shreve and Giovanny Gallegos to the Cardinals. The 27-year-old first baseman has demolished Triple-A pitching, slashing .299/.391/.500 with nine home runs for Triple-A Memphis. The big league level, however, has not been kind to the slugger yet. He hit .182/.308/.455 with one home run in limited time with St. Louis. He’s a right-handed bat with pop, however, and that’s something the Yankees could use more of right about now.
We’ll update this post when we have more information about the corresponding moves.
UPDATE:
Happ will be placed on the 10-day disabled list. The good news is that he will probably only have to miss one start. This isn’t what the Yankees hoped for from their new pitcher, but at least he’s only dealing with an illness and not a physical injury.