It was a long road to the Bronx Bombers for Ben Rortvedt.
The former Minnesota Twins catcher was traded to the New York Yankees alongside Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a deal during the 2021-22 offseason that shipped Gary Sanchez and Gio Urshela up north.
Rortvedt, however, was the only one of those players who didn’t play a game in 2022, as he dealt with a rash of injuries that prevented him from taking the field at the MLB level. He also missed the first month of 2023 with a shoulder aneurysm.
But when Rortvedt returned to full health, he played 10 games with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and slashed .324/.405/.622, which included a walk-off home run off former Yankee pitcher Brooks Kriske.
On May 18, Rortvedt was called up to the Yankees after Jose Trevino, who the Yankees acquired last year due to Rortvedt’s injuries, went on the IL with a left hamstring strain. Three days later, Rortvedt finally got his chance against the Cincinnati Reds in the middle game of a three-game set, catching Jhony Brito and battling ninth in the lineup.
It didn’t take long for Rortvedt to leave a good impression. In his first at-bat in pinstripes, the left-handed catcher received a 1-0 changeup from Luke Weaver down and away in the strike zone. Rortvedt squared it up and hit an opposite-field double that bounced off the left field wall for his first hit as a Yankee. He later scored his first Yankee run when Aaron Judge drove him in from second with a single.
In his second at-bat, coming in the fifth inning, Rortvedt lined a single to center field with a 102.1 exit velocity. It was the second of six straight hits for the Yankees; Rortvedt advanced to second on Gleyber Torres’s single, before Judge drove him in again with a double.
Rortvedt struck out in his last two at-bats, and his day ended when he was pinch-ran for by Greg Allen, as he was to be the “ghost runner” in the 10th inning. The Yankees went on to score three runs in the inning to win 7-4.
It’s unknown how long Rortvedt will be at the major league level, as Trevino is only on the 10-day IL and Kyle Higashioka is currently receiving the lion’s share of catcher duties in his place. Nonetheless, Rortvedt finally got his first game as a Yankee out of the way, and fans are still intrigued by his capabilities after a solid debut.
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