The Yankees nabbed the first two games in Kansas City, putting an emphatic exclamation point on their oddly chippy battle with the Royals, but the process has been more difficult than the final scores would reflect. Tuesday’s game finished with a 10-2 final, and we can all thank Max Fried for that, but long man (?) Yerry de los Santos took 40 pitches to cover 1 2/3 innings, which still necessitated a last-second Tim Hill bailout.
Game 2 was 6-0 until the ninth inning … but the Yankees’ closer pitched, as Devin Williams had to caddy for Mark Leiter Jr. following Brent Headrick and Fernando Cruz.
Cruz remained relatively fresh, but both Headrick and de los Santos were strung out entering the finale. Whenever Thursday night’s game wraps, the Yankees will be heading to Fenway Park to add to their distress; with Ryan Yarbrough starting on Friday against Garrett Crochet (again), they’ll need all the bulk they can get behind him.
It was Headrick who went down to Triple-A, though, and curiously not de los Santos (who, theoretically, can rebound and be fresh for the Boston opener while Boone stays away from him on Thursday).
Following last night’s game, the Yankees optioned LHP Brent Headrick to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Additionally, the Yankees have released LHP Brandon Leibrandt. Leibrandt has signed with the CTBC Brothers Baseball Club in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.
https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/1933179094214348881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Yankees demote Brent Headrick to Triple-A, recall Scott Effross
And here comes Scott Effross, who many fans didn’t think we’d ever see again. The right-hander has appeared in just 16 games since July of 2022 and suffered another injury early on in 2025 that has delayed his season until … right now. There’s absolutely no predicting how he’ll perform. It’d be a pleasant surprise if he could help a struggling unit right now, but you simply can’t bet on it.
Recent bullpen construction has necessitated that Headrick, de los Santos, and even Ian Hamilton end up in moderate-leverage situations more often than they should. Ideally, this won’t happen much anymore following the trade deadline. For now, though? The Yankees are still stuck waiting for someone to emerge, and Jonathan Loaisiga’s return hasn’t been the stabilizing force they were praying for. With every trial run comes the possibility that someone, anyone, will firmly grab the reins and hold down the sixth/seventh.
The Yankees were hopeful Effross could be that in 2022. Can he deliver on those expectations three years later?
