The Yankees announced Tuesday morning that they’ve reinstated center fielder Harrison Bader from the injured list. He’s missed the entire season thus far due to an oblique injury. Franchy Cordero was optioned back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in a corresponding move.
Bader’s return gives the Yankees a plus defender who can slot into center field on an everyday basis and also deepen a lineup that has struggled for much of the year. While Bader hit just .217/.245/.283 in 14 regular-season games with the Yankees following his return from another IL stint last summer, he erupted with a .333/.429/.833 batting line and five homers in just 35 postseason plate appearances. He’s also a career .245/.317/.405 hitter overall during 1764 regular-season plate appearances (97 wRC+).
For much of the season, Bader’s looming return seemed like it’d be the catalyst for the Yankees to make some degree of changes in the outfield, but any such decision is now pushed back a week or so, with Aaron Judge on the injured list due to a hip strain. There’s hope that Judge can return early next week, however, at which point the Yankees will have to determine how they’ll allocate outfield playing time. Bader and Judge will presumably take regular reps in center and in right field, leaving the Yankees with a collection of Aaron Hicks, Oswaldo Cabrera, Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun and perhaps the currently-optioned Cordero to split time between left field and at designated hitter.
Bauers was only just selected to the 40-man roster from Triple-A after a huge start to his season in Scranton, but the other four have struggled considerably at the big league level in the Bronx. Hicks, in particular, has floundered at the plate but is also signed through the 2025 season. Calhoun is out of minor league options and is hitting just .220/.250/.244 through 44 plate appearances himself.
Bader’s return also bears monitoring given his status as an impending free agent. The manner in which he produces and is able to remain healthy over the course of the ensuing five months will play a significant role both in his earning power and in the context of the upcoming free-agent market. The 30-year-old Bader is slated to join Cody Bellinger and Enrique Hernandez as the top center field options on the market this winter. Hernandez has been playing primarily on the infield this year thanks to injuries elsewhere on the Boston roster, however. Bellinger is out to a strong start with the Cubs but will need more than just one good month to erase the offensive swoon that defined his 2021-22 seasons. Bader’s own return from injury will help form that market.
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