Albert Abreu lands on IL, Nick Ramirez called up as corresponding move

The middle of the the Yankees’ bullpen continues to experience injury turnover in the home stretch of the season. On Wednesday, it was Keynan Middleton hitting the IL with right shoulder inflammation — today, Albert Abreu lands on the 15-day injured list with a right hamstring strain.

For Abreu, the injury likely brings an end to what’s been another disappointing season for the flame-throwing righty. The Yankees have held out hope over each of the last three seasons that the 27 year old could take that next step in his development and establish himself as a reliable high leverage bullpen piece. Instead, the control issues that have plagued him at every level in his pro ball journey persist as he’s never been able to rein in the walk rate below 12 percent in any of his four big league seasons. It’s fair to question whether the injury is the result of a career-high workload at the major league level — his 59 innings is the most he has thrown since tossing 96.2 as a starter at Double-A in 2019. In 45 appearances this season, Abreu has pitched to a 4.73 ERA (92 ERA+), 5.36 FIP, and 61:35 strikeout to walk ratio in 59 innings.

To take his place in the bullpen, the Yankees call up a man seven years his senior. Nick Ramirez has ridden the Scranton Shuttle multiple times this season as this is now his fourth separate stint with the big league club. He gives the Yankees another lefty out of the ‘pen alongside Wandy Peralta and the recently called up Matt Krook. The veteran southpaw has been quite effective in a multi-inning mop up role, transitioning from more of a strikeout reliever whose iffy command led to many balls leaving the park in his early seasons to a high-command long man who thrives on inducing soft contact. His 0.27 home run per nine rate is the ninth-lowest of any pitcher with at least 30 innings pitched while his 85.8 mph average exit velocity and 27.3 percent hard-hit rate both place in the top-25 league wide. In 26 appearances, Ramirez has pitched to a 2.67 ERA (163 ER+), 2.96 FIP, and 25 strikeouts in 33.2 innings.