The Yankees announced they reinstated reliever Aroldis Chapman from the 15-day injured list. To clear a spot on the active roster, New York designated righty Ryan Weber for assignment. New York’s 40-man roster tally drops to 38.
Chapman missed around three weeks recovering from an infection arising from a tattoo. The bizarre issue marked the latest frustration in what has been a disappointing overall season for the flamethrowing southpaw. Chapman has worked to a career-worst 4.70 ERA across 30 2/3 innings.
His formerly elite strikeout rate has fallen to a slightly above-average 25.7%, while he’s walking batters at an unacceptable 16.2% clip. New York already bumped Chapman from the ninth inning in favor of Clay Holmes, and it remains to be seen where he stands in the left-handed pecking order for manager Aaron Boone as the playoffs approach. Wandy Peralta and Lucas Luetge have been solid this year, with Peralta thriving against same-handed opponents.
As for Weber, he finds himself in a familiar position. The soft-tossing righty has been on and off the Yankees roster a few times this season, with New York frequently calling upon him as a depth arm. He’s never carved out a permanent spot on the big league club, though, and he’s now been designated for assignment for a fourth time this year. Because he’s out of minor league options, the Yankees continuously have to run him through waivers to take him off the big league roster.
The 32-year-old has remained with New York after each previous DFA, either via accepting an outright assignment to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre or quickly returning on a new minor league deal after electing free agency. He’s pitched well through the constant shuffling, tossing 10 2/3 innings of one-run ball at the MLB level while posting a 3.86 ERA over 39 2/3 Triple-A frames. Weber’s 16.5% strikeout rate with Scranton has been typically modest, but he’s induced plenty of ground-balls and only walked 3% of opponents there.
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