The Yankees have signed Chasen Shreve to a minor league contract, according to the club’s official MLB.com transactions page. Shreve hinted on his Instagram page Friday (hat tip to Conor Foley of the Scranton Times-Tribune) that he was headed for a return stint with the Yankees organization.
The left-hander previously pitched for the Yankees from 2015-18, until he and Giovanny Gallegos were dealt to the Cardinals for Luke Voit and $1M in international bonus pool money in July 2018. Shreve also returned to New York in two separate stints with the Mets, both in 2020 and earlier this season.
The Mets released Shreve in July, after the lefty posted a 6.49 ERA over 26 1/3 innings. This tenure ended in particularly disastrous fashion, as Shreve was crushed for 10 runs over the last 5 1/3 of those frames. Opposing batters have hit six home runs off him in those 26 1/3 innings, a resurgence of the homer problem that has periodically hampered him during his nine years in the majors.
Between the homers and some command issues, consistency has often hard to come by for Shreve, but he has been quite effective when at his best. It was just last season that he had a 3.20 ERA over 56 1/3 innings with the Pirates. Despite mediocre strikeout and walk rates, Shreve was one of the league’s best at limiting hard contact.
Shreve had a 3.92 ERA over his 174 2/3 previous innings with the Yankees, exhibiting some of those same ups and downs that have defined his career. He is the second experienced left-hander added by the Bronx Bombers in two days, with Anthony Banda signed to a major league deal Sunday. The Yankees look to be adding southpaw depth in advance of the postseason, and in the wake of Aroldis Chapman’s placement on the 15-day injured list Saturday.
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