Yankees place righty Jonathan Loaisiga on IL due to shoulder discomfort

Yankees right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga is being placed on the injured list due to shoulder discomfort, manager Aaron Boone told reporters, via The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler.  A corresponding roster move hasn’t yet been announced in advance of New York’s game with the Orioles on Wednesday night.

It has been a tough year for Loaisiga, who has a 7.02 ERA through 16 2/3 innings out of New York’s bullpen.  While his SIERA (3.91) and xFIP (3.86) are a lot more favorable, Loaisiga hasn’t helped his cause with a 13.7% walk rate or three home runs allowed in his small sample size of playing time.

Homers and walks also hampered Loaisiga earlier in his major league career, but the reliever got it all together during a superb 2021 season.  The righty posted a 2.17 ERA over 70 2/3 innings last year, standing out as arguably the best pitcher of an overall strong Yankees relief corps.  While his 24.4% strikeout rate in 2021 was nothing special, Loaisiga displayed excellent control (5.7% walk rate), had a 60.9% grounder rate and he surrendered only three home runs during the entirety of the season.

After going virtually injury-free over the first month of the 2022 campaign, the Yankees have recently been hit with some notable losses over the last week, particularly in the bullpen.  Aroldis Chapman is on the 15-day IL due to left Achilles tendinitis, while Chad Green has been lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery.  (Depth starter Luis Gil also underwent a TJ procedure, further depleting the pitching depth.)

The Yankees still have plenty of quality arms in their bullpen, but they’ll need some pitchers to step up with their closer and two top setup options out of action.