Yankees place Jonathan Loáisiga on IL, call up former prospect Zach McAllister

The Yankees have made some moves ahead of today’s doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox. Needing for an extra arm with a busy day, the team signed right-hander Zack McAllister to an MLB contract.

McAllister was a long-standing member of the Cleveland Guardians in the mid-2010s, as a bit of a jack-of-all-trades who contributed to their pennant-winning team in 2016 that fell just short of ending their championship drought. However, he hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2018, and will most likely eat up some innings for this Yankees club.

The Yankees originally drafted McAllister in the third round back in 2006, the same year that they selected fan favorites Dellin Betances, David Robertson, and Joba Chamberlain (plus Ian Kennedy and Mark Melancon). He worked his way up to Triple-A with them but he was shipped him to Cleveland in a retroactively poor 2010 trade for reserve outfielder Austin Kearns.

While McAllister is a fun story, the unfortunate aspect of it is that a roster spot was open because reliever Jonathan Loáisiga was placed on the 15-day IL.

The injury-plagued right-hander is dealing with some right elbow inflammation, and is most likely done for the season. It’s a similar injury to the one that led to surgery for a removal of bone spurs, keeping Loáisiga out for four months of 2023, limiting him to 17 games. He could feasibly come back for a few more appearances based on the timing of his IL placement, but with the season where it is, it makes no sense for the Yankees to push him in any capacity.

In order to open up a spot on the 40-man-roster, the Yankees placed Anthony Rizzo on the 60-day IL in a move that has no real impact as he was already ruled out for a return in 2023. Rizzo has been recovering from post-concussion symptoms and has yet to be cleared for baseball activities.

On a lighter note, we’ll close out the post with an amusing look back at what the Yankees’ Triple-A team looked like the last time that the recalled McAllister was truly a prospect. The box score below is from Triple-A Scranton’s matchup against Columbus on August 17, 2010 — just a few days before McAllister was sent to Cleveland. Special shout-out to Colin Curtis.