May 28th, 2021: Kluber, Voit, Florial, Judge, Mailbag

I’ve watched every game this season and I have no idea how the Yankees are 29-21. They feel so much worse. The pitching has been great! But the offense has been among the least productive in baseball. Every game is like getting teeth pulled. Anyway, the Yankees are on pace to go 94-68 with 112 games remaining. To today’s thoughts.

1. Kluber injured. The Yankees have used seven different starting pitchers this season and are one of only 10 teams to use fewer than eight, and one of the seven (Deivi Garcia in Baltimore) was a strategic spot start to give the other starters extra rest (Nick Nelson's open happened because Domingo German had been sent to the alternate site). The top five starters have been remarkably healthy in the early going.

That was never going to last, of course. Every team deals with pitching injuries throughout the season and Corey Kluber exited Tuesday night’s start with a tight right shoulder after laboring through three innings. An MRI showed a strained subscapularis, which the internet tells me is the largest muscle in the rotator cuff. Kluber will not throw for at least four weeks.

"It's tough news to get considering how well he's throwing the ball, and all he's been through to get back," Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch. "Hopefully we can start the recovery process for him and have him back in our rotation sooner rather than later."

Figure Kluber will need 4-6 weeks to build up once healthy, so we probably won’t see him again until August. And that’s with no delays or setbacks, and the odds of a smooth recovery for a 35-year-old one year removed from a major shoulder injury aren’t great. This was always the risk, right? That Kluber would get hurt again and miss a big chunk of time. No one can say this is a surprise.

With Kluber and Clarke Schmidt hurt -- Schmidt is playing catch but has not yet thrown off a mound, Boone said earlier this week -- the rotation depth beyond the top four healthy starters is Garcia, Mike King, and I guess Mike Montgomery? Montgomery has allowed 15 runs in 16.2 innings with Triple-A Scranton, so I hope not he’s not next on the depth chart.

In the short-term, Kluber’s injury and yesterday’s doubleheader mean the Yankees will need two spot starters in the coming days. It would be smart to use them against the Tigers this weekend rather than against the Rays or Red Sox next week. This seems logical enough (Gerrit Cole today and Garcia tomorrow are confirmed, and Sunday’s starter is currently listed as TBA):

• Thursday vs. Blue Jays (doubleheader): Domingo German and Jordan Montgomery
• Friday at Tigers: Gerrit Cole
• Saturday at Tigers: Deivi Garcia (on seven days rest)
• Sunday at Tigers: Mike King (on normal rest following Tuesday’s long relief outing)
• Monday vs. Rays: Jameson Taillon
• Tuesday vs. Rays: German or Montgomery
• Wednesday vs. Rays: German or Montgomery
• Thursday vs. Rays: Cole
• Friday vs. Red Sox: Garcia or King (Garcia and King?)
• Saturday vs. Red Sox: Taillon
• Sunday vs. Red Sox: German

Boone said the Yankees were already planning to give Garcia a spot start this weekend before Kluber got hurt. Pitching him and King back-to-back days isn’t ideal because they could tax the bullpen, but a) it’s the Tigers, and b) Cole is already starting with extra rest tonight, and I don’t think the Yankees want to push him back to tomorrow and start Deivi tonight instead just to split up the kids.

The Yankees could have started Cole on the normal rest in one of the doubleheader games yesterday, which would’ve lined him up to start in the Rays and Red Sox series. Instead, he’ll start tonight and against the Rays, but not against the Red Sox. Given the AL East race, they have to get Cole on the mound against those clubs as often as possible going forward.

In the medium-term, I think the Yankees should go with Garcia in Kluber’s place, though my hunch is it will be a collective effort. Could be Deivi some days, King others, and someone else entirely at times too. If someone grabs the job and runs with it, the Yankees will stick with him, but it has to happen first. I think Garcia is the option with the best chance to be great, so I say go with him. We’ll see.

“This creates an opening and an opportunity,” Boone told Dan Martin. “(Garcia) is gonna get some chances and looks. Hopefully he can capitalize.”

In the long-term, the Yankees can look forward to Trade Deadline Additions™ Corey Kluber and Luis Severino* sometime in the second half. Counting on a guy with two shoulder injuries in two years, and another guy who’s thrown 20.1 innings since 2018 and is coming off a major elbow injury, doesn’t excite me, but you know we’ll hear the “getting them back is better than any trade” line.

* Noah Syndergaard was just shut down six weeks with elbow inflammation. He had his Tommy John surgery one month after Severino and was already pitching in minor league rehab games. The Yankees have been very deliberate with Severino’s rehab hoping to avoid a setback like Syndergaard’s. He’s expected to begin a rehab assignment sometime in June.

Trading for pitching help should be a priority and I thought that even before Kluber got hurt, but it is easier said than done. No team is willing to part with pitching depth this early in the season, especially since we’re all kinda waiting to see how the weirdness of last year manifests itself as workloads climb. Cole is 4-5 starts away from exceeding his 2020 innings total, for example.

My Max Scherzer pipe dream is, well, a pipe dream. The NL East is weak and the Nationals are close enough to justify going for it, and everything in GM Mike Rizzo’s history tells us he will go for it. Other bad teams with rental starters include the Angels (Dylan Bundy, Alex Cobb, Andrew Heaney), Twins (J.A. Happ, Michael Pineda), Rockies (Jon Gray), and Pirates (Tyler Anderson).

I’m sure we’ll talk about potential trade target starting pitchers ad nauseam the next few weeks. The Yankees absolutely should be in the market for rotation help, I thought that even before the Kluber injury, but the same was true the last two years and they never pulled the trigger. Plus L.T.R.E.A.M. The Yankees aren’t exactly swimming in luxury tax payroll space.

Kluber's injury should put an end to the perpetual personal catcher thing. Kyle Higashioka's play has deteriorated since Boone's "He’s just earned more playing time, simple as that” comment (.152/.250/.326 and 64 wRC+) and the Yankees aren't going to get out of their offense funk by playing their backups more. Let Higashioka catch Cole, otherwise get Gary Sanchez in there as often as possible. (I don't expect this to happen.)

2021 is weird as hell in that the Yankees are reliant on pitching to win games, not offense, so losing this version of Kluber is a pretty significant blow. If nothing else, his injury is a harsh little reminder not to get too excited about the rotation in April and May because it is a long season. The rotation in September and October is what matters most, but you have to get their first.

“Next man up,” Boone told Martin. “Those are valuable innings we’ve got to make up for in the short-term, at least. We’ll find a way to do that.”

2. Voit injured too. The soft tissue injury monster has come for the Yankees. The same day they announced Kluber will be shut down four weeks, the Yankees announced Luke Voit has a Grade 2 right oblique strain. Aaron Judge missed two months with a Grade 2 oblique strain in 2019, so that’s a reasonable timetable for Voit. We’ll see him after the All-Star break.

“He’s going to be down a little bit,” Aaron Boone told Dan Martin. “With all he’s been through just to get back -- he had such success with the knee coming back -- to have a setback to land him on the IL, he’s very frustrated. Hopefully it’s not something that keeps him down too long.”

Voit was 8-for-44 (.182) with one home run since returning from his knee surgery, so he wasn’t knocking the cover off the ball, but it was reasonable to expect his performance to improve with time. Reminder: Yankees first baseman hit .150/.250/.244 (45 wRC+) during Voit’s absence. I am not looking forward to reliving that.

In theory, the Yankees are better equipped to deal with Voit’s injury than Kluber’s injury. They’re probably going to do exactly what they did while Voit was on the injured list the first time, which was play DJ LeMahieu at first and Rougned Odor at second a bunch, and give Mike Ford spot starts. I don’t like it. It gives Odor and Ford too many at-bats and weakens the defense when LeMahieu is at first.

I’m a Miguel Andujar guy and I’d put him at first base full-time, but lol the Yankees need him in the outfield for the time being, which throws a wrench into that plan. If not Miggy Missiles, then it’s probably time to give Chris Gittens a shot. He’s 27 and doing well at Triple-A (though he’s cooled down a bit of late). If you’re not going to call him up now, I don’t know when you would.

Maybe Gittens strikes out 40% of the time and proves to be a poor man’s Chris Carter. I’ve seen enough Kila Ka’aihues and Calvin Pickerings (and Mike Fords!) to know the Gittens profile (older Triple-A player with power, walks, and nothing else) usually doesn’t work out, but maybe he comes up and hits 12 home runs in a month, and gives a jolt to an offense that is currently hitting ...

• AVG: .230 (22nd in MLB)
• OBP: .318 (11th)
• SLG: .379 (22nd)
• wRC+: 98 (15th)
• Runs per game: 3.92 (24th)

… overall, and has scored 24 runs with four home runs in its last eight games. We’re two months into the season. I’m not sure how much longer “just wait for everyone to get going” will be a viable strategy with the AL East race this tight. This current offense is not good enough to contend for a division title. I don’t think it’s even close to good enough, really.

The Yankees live and die with their pitching, not their offense, and Corey Kluber’s injury has compromised the pitching. Voit was the single biggest reason to believe the offense would be better going forward, and now he’ll be on the shelf for a few months. Giancarlo Stanton is due back this weekend and that’s great, but he is only one man.

I’m hoping for Andujar (or Gittens, I guess) but am fully expecting Odor and Ford. Maybe the Yankees make a trade (Jesus Aguilar? C.J. Cron? Colin Moran?)? I wouldn’t hold my breath. Odor was the trade, and the Yankees will cycle through their internal options until Voit returns. Hopefully the rest of the lineup picks up the slack, because it’s going to sink their season otherwise.

(Hicks and Kluber are 60-day injured list candidates and Voit likely is as well. The Yankees have a ton of 40-man roster flexibility right now should they, you know, make an attempt at improving the roster.)

3. Florial called up. As part of yesterday’s roster shuffle, the Yankees called up Estevan Florial, and he went 1-for-3 with a double in the second game of the doubleheader. He was sent back down after the game, which isn’t surprising with Giancarlo Stanton expected to return today. Florial was up so the Yankees wouldn’t have to play Brett Gardner in center both games of the doubleheader (or Clint Frazier in center in one game).

"We'll see," Aaron Boone told Max Goodman when asked before the doubleheader whether Florial could stick around long-term. "Right now, with what we've been through the last couple of weeks, and certainly here the last couple days, you never know the twists and turns, but we'll just have to see. Let's get through today first."

Everything the Yankees have said (“You never want to bring anyone up here that isn't at least somewhat ready to take on that challenge, especially when you're talking about a player with Flo's potential,” Boone said last weekend) and done (i.e. not call Florial up as soon as Aaron Hicks got hurt) indicates they don’t believe Florial is ready, and I didn’t think yesterday was an indication they changed their mind since, uh, last Friday. It was clearly a temporary callup.

Whether it’s Florial or someone else, the Yankees are going to have to bring in another center fielder soon, because Gardner can’t play every game and Frazier or Tyler Wade in center is not appealing. Andrew Velazquez played his first game of the year in the outfield yesterday, which I doubt is a coincidence given the injuries. Nice to see Florial in a game even though it was a one-day thing. He’ll be back on a more permanent basis soon enough (okay, maybe not, unless you consider 2022 soon enough).

4. 2021 draft prospect: Virginia LHP Andrew Abbott. The 2021 MLB Draft will take place during the All-Star break and J.J. Cooper (subs. req’d) reports MLB has informed teams the draft will be 20 rounds, the minimum number allowed under last year’s March agreement. The Yankees hold the No. 20 pick. Here is our 2021 draft prospect coverage archive.

The Yankees selected Abbott, who turns 22 next week, out of his Virginia high school in the 36th round of the 2017 draft even though he was considered unsignable. Abbott followed through on his commitment to the University of Virginia, where he had a 3.25 ERA with 165 strikeouts and 49 walks in 108.3 innings almost exclusively in relief from 2018-20.

Although Baseball America (subs. req’d) ranked Abbott as the 132nd best prospect in the 2020 draft class, he was not selected in the five-round (160-pick) draft, and returned to school for his senior year. Now a starting pitcher and Virginia’s ace, Abbott has a 2.83 ERA with 127 strikeouts and 27 walks in 82.2 innings this year.

MLB.com ranks Abbott as the No. 71 prospect in this year’s draft class while Baseball America (subs. req’d) has him a bit lower at No. 117. Here’s video and here’s a piece of MLB.com’s scouting report:

While he’s not the biggest guy in the world at 6-foot even, Abbott has a combination of stuff and makeup that scouts love. As a starter, he still relies heavily on his fastball-curve combination. His fastball is typically in the low 90s, touching 95 mph, and it plays up and misses bats in the zone because of some cutting action and some funk in his delivery. He can manipulate his power breaking ball -- a true out pitch -- well, slurving it a bit more to run away from left-handed hitters. Abbott hadn’t used his changeup much as a reliever and he’s used it this year, though it needs work.

While Abbott’s walk rate hasn’t been great, he does repeat his delivery well and most feel he’ll be a solid strike-thrower at the next level. He’s shown his stuff holds up deep into games, which could give him a chance to start. Teams love the way he competes on the mound and they know if they do move him back to the 'pen, he could get to the big leagues in a hurry.

The Yankees are all about plus makeup guys, so much so that there have been times they’ve seemed to prioritize makeup over talent (Cito Culver, Dante Bichette Jr., etc.). Abbott is one of this draft’s big makeup guys, plus the Yankees drafted him previously, so there was some level of interest once upon a time. That’s enough for me to put him on the radar.

Abbott does not have a long track record as a starter (he allowed four earned runs in five starts and 20.2 innings as a starter in the wood bat Cape Cod League in 2019) and it sounds as though he’s likely to settle in as a reliever given his okay at best control and lack of a reliable pitch. Never say never in the build-a-pitcher era, though Abbott starting may be a long shot.

Relievers are important too though, and Abbott has added appeal in the bonus pool era as a college senior with limited negotiating leverage. He’s a legitimate top 2-3 rounds prospect who is likely to sign well below slot because, well, what’s his alternative? Go get a real job? Only six college seniors were drafted last year and the largest bonus of the six was about 60% of slot.

The Yankees have a relatively small bonus pool ($6.9M) and no extra picks this year. Taking Abbott with the No. 20 pick would be a reach. They could take him with their second round pick (No. 55) though, pay him about 60% of the $1.3M slot ($780,000 or so), then use the savings to give a highly regarded player who falls to the third round an overslot seven-figure bonus.

One thing I should note is Virginia pitchers have a terrible track record in pro ball. They all seem to break down right away (Nick Howard, Danny Hultzen, Nathan Kirby, etc.). Virginia is a major program and their all-time leader in pitching WAR is Sean Doolittle (+9.4 WAR), and he was drafted as a first baseman. Second is longtime lefty specialist Javier Lopez (+8.0 WAR). Eh.

I don’t think that history should be enough to remove Virginia pitchers from your board entirely, though maybe it breaks a tie if you’re deciding between two players. Either way, Abbott is appealing as a top 2-3 rounds prospect who will save bonus pool space, and the Yankees liked him enough once upon a time to draft him. Pretty obvious potential fit here.

UPDATE: I've been told the "Virginia pitchers break" thing is outdated. They overhauled their pitching program when they hired a new pitching coach (the well-regarded Drew Dickinson) in Sept. 2019. We're still waiting to see some results from those changes (Dickinson's first season was the pandemic season), though Virginia's pitching reputation is changing. 

5. Rapid fire thoughts. Aaron Judge was the DH in both games yesterday and has been the DH in seven of the last 12 games. Whatever the general lower body soreness he’s dealing with is, it doesn’t seem like it’s getting much better given how often the Yankees are keeping him off his feet. Might not seem like a big deal since he’s still in the lineup, but the defense suffers when he’s at DH … Dumb thing that probably irked only me: DJ LeMahieu was placed on the paternity list Tuesday and the Yankees didn’t call anyone up to take his roster spot. They played Tuesday’s game with a 25-man roster. There are only two minor league position players on the 40-man roster (Estevan Florial and Oswald Peraza), but they couldn’t call up a ninth reliever (Albert Abreu, Nick Nelson, etc.)? The paternity list allows players to go be with their families at a happy moment and their team to avoid playing shorthanded, and the Yankees played shorthanded anyway. I dunno. Maybe the $3,000 or so they saved against the luxury tax is worth more than carrying a full roster for one day … The Giants outrighted outfielder Braden Bishop to Triple-A earlier this week, meaning he cleared waivers and is no longer on the 40-man roster. Bishop can’t hit but he’s an outstanding defensive outfielder, and this is the second time in 10 days the Yankees did not claim him on waivers (the Giants claimed him from the Mariners last week, when they were dead last on the waiver priority order). Their backup center fielder is their utility infielder and they’re talking about trading for Delino DeShields Jr., but no interest in Bishop? The Yankees could’ve put Aaron Hicks on the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man spot and optioned Bishop to Triple-A, then dropped him from the 40-man whenever a spot was needed. Seems like the Yankees should be jumping all over any freely available center fielder these days. Bishop would’ve created zero roster headaches and blocked no one, and been depth at a thin position. Shrug … And finally, some more Olympics roster news: Robinson Chirinos is on the Venezuela roster. There’s a qualifying event in Florida next week and Chirinos is already there working out with the team. Triple-A Scranton has three other catchers on their roster (Rob Brantly, Kellin Deglan, Max McDowell), so they’ll be fine. This just means the Yankees will be without their top third catcher option for the next week or so should Gary Sanchez or Kyle Higashioka get hurt.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Larry asks (short version): With the caveat that I barely follow what goes on in the National League, is there any chance the Reds would trade Jesse Winker, who I had never heard of prior to this week until sorting through Fangraphs' wRC+ leaderboard? And is he a fit for the Yankees (and if so, what would it take)?

The Yankees badly need a Jesse Winker type. I mean, every team could use a Jesse Winker type, but the Yankees have a glaring need for a lefty thumper in the middle of the lineup. The 27-year-old Winker is hitting .361/.416/.663 (190 wRC+) with 13 home runs. He owns a career 135 wRC+ and his worst season is a 113 wRC+ in 2019. Yeah.

“Winker was the best hitter in every lineup he appeared until he played with Joey Votto,” wrote Baseball America (subs. req’d) in 2018, the last time Winker was prospect eligible. The numbers tell us that wasn’t hyperbole.

Winker can really hit but he’s a terrible defensive outfielder. He’s at -19 DRS and -3.6 WAR on defense in just under 2,000 career innings in the field, so he wouldn’t solve the current center field problem, though he’s worth a call for left field. Clint Frazier is kinda sorta maybe starting to show signs of life, but Winker’s the better player, and you’ll live with the glove to get that bat.

Winker is under team control through 2023 and surprisingly few hitters have been traded with 2.5 years (i.e. three postseason runs) of team control remaining. The Tommy Pham trade I cited in the recent Max Kepler post might be the best trade comp, though Pham had an extra year of team control. He fetched two top 15 team prospects plus a third piece.

The question is not whether Winker makes sense for the Yankees. He absolutely does. The real question is whether the Reds would trade him. He’s no worse than their second best hitter and they’re only five games out in a winnable NL Central. Cincinnati has been pretty aggressive the last few offseasons. My guess is they would look to add to Winker before trading him away. If they make him available though, the Yankees should go after him.

Joe asks: So I’m writing this on Saturday evening, after the Yankees have had four straight starters pitch 7+ innings with no earned runs, so a lot might have changed since I wrote this. However, it’s obvious to say that the Yankees pitching has been excellent to start the year, and I was wondering how much you think is attributable to Matt Blake? It was sort of a lost offseason last year with COVID, so is it possible that with a 60-game season asking full offseason to work in his gameplan we’re starting to see the benefits?

I’m a bit of a coach agnostic. They’re obviously very important, though trying to decipher how much credit (or blame) they deserve is basically impossible. They’re not taking swings, they’re not throwing pitches, they’re not offensive coordinators calling plays. All they can do is help the players prepare, but ultimately the performance is up to the player. He has to execute.

There have been some philosophical changes in the two years under Blake. The pitching staff is collectively throwing a lot more changeups, and on an individual level you have Jameson Taillon going with elevated four-seamers, Jonathan Loaisiga going with sinkers, Aroldis Chapman adding a splitter, Chad Green adding a curveball, etc. How much of that is Blake? Beats me.

I was asked about Blake last year, when the pitching underwhelmed, and my response was basically a shrug. How do we evaluate a rookie pitching coach in a pandemic season when he didn’t have a proper Spring Training? Now we have two months of a normal-ish season, and Blake looks better. In related news, the staff is more talented (and healthier, at least prior to Corey Kluber's injury) this year than last.

I absolutely buy this year being more reflective of Blake’s ability as a pitching coach than last year because last year was bizarre. That said, when it comes to evaluating coaches, all we seem to do is project player performance onto the coaches. The pitchers have been great, so Blake looks great. That wasn’t the case last year, and it might not be the case a few months from now.

Paul asks: I have to think Kluber is in the conversation for comeback player of the year. Who is in the conversation with him?

Paul sent this question in before Corey Kluber’s shoulder injury, which takes him out of the running for the All-Star Game and any award. Before the injury, I would’ve said yes, he’s in the Comeback Player of the Year conversation with J.D. Martinez, Yordan Alvarez, and Mitch Haniger. Maybe Jameson Taillon finishes very well and puts himself in that conversation? That’s a strong group of Comeback Player of the Year candidates, I’d say.

But it has to be Trey Mancini, right? He’s playing well (.278/.352/.524 and 142 wRC+) and he’s coming back from Stage 3 colon cancer. Even if he finishes at something like .250/.330/.440, I’d give it to him. I am totally cool with giving the Comeback Player of the Year award to a cancer survivor over a player having a better year coming back from a baseball injury (or just a down year). Kluber was great before the injury, but I’d be willing to bet even he would say Mancini deserves to be Comeback Player of the Year.

Alex asks: I had the privilege of attending Saturday’s game against the White Sox and noticed that Cole was touching the brim of his hat quite often. From my vantage point of my seats, I was able to snap the attached picture of him entering the dugout after the 3rd inning. You can see a pretty large grayish area on the brim of his cap. My question to you is, what is it? Is it legal? It’s pretty noticeable so I suspect the White Sox didn’t mind. Is this a case of “everyone is doing it so we will ignore it”? I understand if you may not want to publish this question, but would appreciate your thoughts.

Former Yankee Gio Gallegos got popped for having a glob of stuff on his hat earlier this week. Second base ump Dan Bellino spotted the substance on Gallegos’ hat and crew chief Joe West confiscated it, and it will be sent to MLB for evaluation. Gallegos was not ejected and remained in the game with a new hat. He claims the substance was sunscreen.

"This is baseball's dirty little secret, and this is the wrong time and the wrong arena to expose it," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said after the game. "... You want to police some sunscreen and rosin? Go ahead. Get every single person in this league. Why don't you start with the guys that are cheating with some stuff that's really impacting the game?"

Anyway, the stuff on Cole’s hat was probably rosin stuck to whatever sticky stuff he’s using. We know Cole uses foreign substances (he’s not so good at covering his tracks) and most pitchers use them, really. Cole is hardly the only pitcher with a glob of something on his cap. Gallegos got caught earlier this week. Here’s Craig Kimbrel in April:

“I’m not in the dugout and it’s a tough thing to see from us on the first base side, but I did see it on TV, the white spot on his cap,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said about Kimbrel’s cap. “It’s something that can be checked, because I know MLB is encouraging us to check and cracking down on using illegal substances on the ball, but I thought it was a tough thing to pick up actually being on the field.”

MLB is said to be cracking down on foreign substances (officially, they’re on a fact-finding mission to determine how widespread they are) and Bellino and West show umpires are starting to take more control. In the past, it was up to the clubs to enforce the rules, but they don’t call each other on it because every team has pitchers using foreign substances. Only when it’s extremely obvious (like Michael Pineda having pine tar on his neck) do they say something.

There has long been an unspoken (or maybe it is spoken, what do I know) agreement to not say anything about foreign substances. It’s just accepted that most pitchers use them. I think MLB would benefit from a sticky ball (like they have in Japan) or an approved substance. That way everyone is on a level playing field and you can discipline anyone who goes overboard. Nothing is imminent on that front though.

C.J. asks: Do you have any information as to why Tyler Wade is in his fourth year of being able to be optioned (‘17, ‘18, ‘19 & ‘21) and Miguel Andujar is also in his fourth (‘17, ‘18, ‘20, & ‘21).  It just seems like those two never run out of minor league options.

Players get three option years and must spend at least 20 days in the minors to burn an option. It doesn’t have to be 20 consecutive days, just 20 days throughout the season. Wade was first added to the 40-man roster and called up in June 2017. Here are the number of days he’s spent on optional assignments (i.e. on the 40-man and in the minors) each season since:

• 2017: 18 days (two stints in minors)
• 2018: 107 days (three stints)
• 2019: 100 days (three stints)
• 2020: 0 days (on 28-man MLB roster all year)
• 2021: 17 days so far (one stint)

Wade burned option years in 2018 and 2019 but not in 2017, and he hasn’t burned an option yet this year either. If he stays on the MLB roster the rest of the season, Wade will have an option remaining for 2022. I don’t think the Yankees did this intentionally (manipulating options for a utility infielder would be next level overthinking). It’s just the way it worked out.

As for Andujar, he burned options in 2017 and 2020. He spent only three days in the minors in 2018 (Brandon Drury got hurt in the opening series and Andujar replaced him) and was on the MLB injured list in 2019. Andujar has spent 15 days on an optional assignment this year. If he spends the rest of the year in the big leagues, he’ll have an option remaining for 2022 too.

(Send your requests for Tuesday's random Yankee series and questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com.)