Yankees place Carlos Rodón on IL, activate Jonathan Loáisiga

The Carlos Rodón Yankees Experience is already maddening and we’re not even all the way through year one. There’s been essentially a missed first half, a chronic back condition that might dog his entire six-year contract, a blown kiss to booing fans, and oh-so-many bad pitches out of the zone or leaving the yard in a mere six starts. Then just yesterday, Rodón was removed from yet another ineffective appearance with an apparent leg injury, and while he hoped to avoid returning to the IL, that dreaded acronym worked its way back into his life anyway.

No dice, Carlos. He’s going on the 15-day IL with a left hamstring strain. It’s not as scary an injury as the back problems, but just add it onto the pile. The Yankees are already missing Domingo Germán and Frankie Montas, and it sadly might be better off for everyone involved in Luis Severino was missing from the active roster, too (or at least the rotation). The man who relieved Rodón on Sunday, Jhony Brito, was demoted for a fresh arm after the game but he could return after 10 days if a starting occasion pops up next week. Fellow fill-in Randy Vásquez is a more immediate option; he could start as soon as Friday, when Rodón would have next pitched.

The Yankees are at least getting a long-lost name back from the IL as Rodón exits. Outside of a bad first half in 2022, Jonathan Loáisiga has been one of the team’s most talented relievers over the past few years, but he’s been out of commission since April 5th with what turned out to be a bone spur that required surgery to remove. He’s worked hard on the rehab trail and is now back in the Yankees’ bullpen. Andrés wrote just the other day about how much he could help a relief corps that has scuffled at times in the past month — perhaps due to first-half overuse with so much of the rotation on the fritz.

Nick Ramirez is also back on the active roster beginning tonight in Chicago. The lefty reliever had been demoted on August 4th so that Nestor Cortes could return from the IL to the rotation. Rodón’s injury allowed him to return sooner than the customary 10 days. Expect him to provide middle-relief depth.

New York did need to make a 40-man roster move to get Loáisiga back from the 60-day IL, so they bid adieu to a man who was once considered the future of their pitching staff. Deivi García was an electric prospect who ranked all the way up at 17th overall in the game per Baseball Prospectus prior to 2021. The young lefty had impressed in 2019 and flashed some nasty stuff in the COVID-shortened 2020, even earning a playoff start that year. Sure, it was a poorly-planned opener strategy that was not communicated well to him or J.A. Happ, but it spoke to how highly he was regarded at age 21.

The last few years turned out to be an unmitigated disaster for García. Mechanical tweaks turned into a truly wretched season in 2021 that completely tanked his future. He was bombed from the rotation and had no semblance of control as

The full rundown of the Yankees roster moves can be found below.