The Yankees have called up three outfield prospects so far in 2015 to replace the injured Jacoby Ellsbury on the roster. Slade Heathcott got first crack at the job before a hamstring injury sidelined him. Ramon Flores came up and showed off some impressive defense in left field, but was sent back down in favor of calling up Mason Williams to play center field. Williams also showed off his amazing defensive capabilities before landing on the DL with a shoulder injury. It's good news that the farm system was able to contribute in a positive way after a few seasons of disappointment, but the influx of injuries meant that a door was open for one of the Double-A outfield prospects to make a move. According to Jack Curry of the YES Network, the prospect benefitting from the injuries to others is Aaron Judge.
Judge is either the Yankees' top prospect or second-best prospect, depending on who you ask. The big outfielder has performed extremely well for the Trenton Thunder so far this season, and now he'll get a chance to show everyone what we can do at the next level.
Source: Aaron Judge will be promoted to Class AAA Scranton.
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) June 21, 2015
Having Judge move up to Triple-A isn't surprising with his .284/.350/.516 batting line and 12 home runs through 63 games. The Yankees are going to need an alternative to Carlos Beltran in right field sooner than later, and having their most promising outfield prospect ready to go in case he is needed makes a lot of sense. It seems to be common thought that Judge will be in the majors at some point next season, if not on the roster to begin the year. Having him test himself at the most advanced minor league level before the All-Star break seems to go along with that thinking.
In addition to Judge being on the move, two more relievers are going to be getting their shot at the big league level this week. Nick Rumbelow and Diego Moreno will be called up tomorrow to replace Danny Burawa and Jose De Paula on the roster. Both relievers got kind of roughed up on Sunday against the Tigers, and the Yankees probably want to go into the next series with some fresh arms after the blowout. Rumbelow has a 3.31 ERA in 35.1 innings so far this season, holding opposing batters to a .216 average. Moreno has pitched to a 2.27 ERA in 35.2 innings, posting his best numbers since 2010. After going fairly lefty-heavy out of the bullpen earlier this season, injuries to Andrew Miller and Jacob Lindgren have Chasen Shreve and Justin Wilson as the only left-handed short relievers currently on the roster.