Yankees designate Victor González, recall Yoendrys Gómez

It’s been a long week in New York, with the Yankees getting hit by injuries and shuttling players on and off the roster. The roster reshuffle continued today, as the club announced that they’d designated reliever Victor González for assignment, recalled Yoendrys Gómez from Triple-A, and signed Phil Bickford to a major league contract.

González was acquired alongside prospect Jorbit Vivas from the Dodgers over the winter in exchange for minor league infielder Trey Sweeney. The left-handed reliever got off to a good start in his tenure in pinstripes but had struggled in recent games, allowing five runs in his last three appearances. He’s pitched 23.1 innings on the season, maintaining a 107 ERA+, but with just 11 strikeouts against 13 walks.

Gómez will join the Yankee bullpen after working as a starter with Scranton. The right-hander has pitched well in the minors, working to a 3.13 ERA with a 10.6 K/9 rate in 46 innings, though he also owns an inflated 5.1 BB/9 figure. The 24-year-old Gómez has made a pair of major league appearances in his young career, allowing one hit across three shutout innings with seven strikeouts.

Ron Marinaccio was optioned to the minors last night, clearing space for Gómez, while the DFA of González opens up a spot for Bickford. The 28-year-old righty most pitched for the Dodgers and Mets last season, totaling 67.1 innings with an 87 ERA+. He struck out 76 batters and walked 39. Bickford is basically a fastball/slider reliever, throwing a 94 mph fastball 71 percent of the time and a slider 27 percent of the time.

The Yankees’ relief corps has been under pressure lately. They’ll hope this new injection of talent will help alleviate that pressure in the coming days.