New York Yankees claim former Braves pitcher

Winans, 29, made six starts for the Braves in 2023 and two more in 2024. Over those outings, he posted a 1-4 record with a 7.20 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings, allowing eight home runs in 40 innings.

Despite his struggles at the major league level, Winans has been solid in Triple-A, with a 3.26 ERA, a 21.8% strikeout rate and a 6.9% walk rate over 256 career innings. In 24 appearances (16 starts) for Gwinnett last season, he went 7-5 with a 3.30 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP.

The 6-foot-2 right-hander typically sits at 90-91 mph with his four-seam fastball and 89-90 mph with his sinker, complementing those pitches with a low-80s changeup and an upper-70s slider. Statcast shows his changeup produced a +5 run value in 2023, but that dropped to -3 in 2024 as his usage rate spiked to 41.5% over 7.2 innings.

Winans brings the Yankees' 40-man roster to 38 (later 39, as the Yankees subsequently claimed Roansy Contreras off waivers as well), so no corresponding move is needed at this time. He still has one minor league option remaining, making him a candidate to start the season in Triple-A as either starting pitching depth or a potential long reliever.

New York’s rotation is crowded, with former All-Star and trade candidate Marcus Stroman currently in the sixth spot. Stroman is owed $18.3 million for the 2025 season.