Yankees recall JP Sears, designate Manny Bañuelos for assignment

The Yankees announced this afternoon that they had recalled left-hander JP Sears from Triple-A. In order to clear space on the 40-man roster, the team designated reliever Manny Bañuelos for assignment.

Sears will start tonight against the A’s, pushing the remainder of the regular rotation back for extra rest in the middle of a stretch of 20 games in 20 days. The 26-year-old has impressed in 2022, running a 1.83 ERA and 11.4 K/9 in the minors, while also chipping in seven scoreless innings across three major league appearances. Seemingly the only real thing keeping the young lefty from a longer look in the bigs has been the excellence, and pristine health, of the Yankees’ top five starters.

The call-up necessitated a roster-clearing move, and in this case the casualty was Bañuelos. The 31-year-old brought a heartwarming story to the backend of the roster, making his Yankee debut over 13 years after originally signing on with the organization. Bañuelos recorded his first career save earlier this month in covering the final three innings in a blowout win versus the Cubs. The former top prospect ultimately was effective in limited time, totaling 8.1 innings across four appearances, allowing two runs and striking out eight.

Bañuelos did not have an iron-clad case to stay on the roster, though, with the likes of Albert Abreu and Ron Marinaccio profiling as longer-term options also deserving of a spot. We’ll see if he latches on with another team, or passes through waivers and returns to the Yankees’ minor league system.