New York Yankees Shake Up Bullpen vs. Seattle Mariners
The New York Yankees made their first roster move of the season, shaking up their bullpen by sending Luis Cessa down and bringing up Tyler Olsen.
The New York Yankees made their first roster move of the 2016 season on Friday, and it came in their bullpen. The Yankees have optioned right-handed relief pitcher Luis Cessa to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and in his place called up left-handed relief pitcher Tyler Olson.
Cessa was acquired this past offseason from the Detroit Tigers in the trade that sent left-handed pitcher Justin Wilson to Detroit. He was also one of the last players to make the Yankees 25-man roster out of Spring Training, as he was vaulted into the discussion after Bryan Mitchell injured his toe and eventually needed surgery.
Cessa had a good spring, appearing in six games and throwing 11 innings. He registered a 3.27 ERA, striking out 11 with an opponent’s batting average of .244 and WHIP of 1.18.
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Cessa did not get much of an opportunity in the regular season though, as he only made once appearance in the early going of the season. He pitched two innings, allowing one run and striking out two. Upon returning to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he will make an appearance as a reliever to start but will then be stretched back out to be a starter.
The Yankees plan for Cessa throughout the spring was to try him out as a starter, but with the injury to Mitchell, plans changed. Now with things settled a little more, the Yankees will go back to their original plan of him being a starter.
“I thought Cessa did a good job while he was here,” Girardi said. “He’ll obviously go down and he will get built up. I think his first outing will be in relief, but [later he’ll start].”
In his place, the Yankees brought up the left-handed Olsen. The Mariners have a left-handed dominant lineup led by former Yankee Robinson Cano, so the move makes sense on paper. As everyone knows, the game is not played on paper though and the move has not come to fruition as the Yankees had hoped, at least not yet. Olsen pitched 2 2/3 innings against the Mariners on Friday night, giving up two earned runs on three hits and two walks.
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Not the season debut Olson or the Yankees were looking for, but he will almost assuredly have another chance this weekend to redeem himself as the Yankees have only Chase Shreve as a middle of the game left-handed option; Andrew Miller is also left-handed but as the current closer he won’t be pitching in games outside of late game situations.