Yankees return Elmer Rodríguez to Triple-A

Rodríguez also struck out three but walked four while throwing just 42 of his 77 pitches for strikes. The 22-year-old has had a solid season at Triple-A with a 3.03 ERA in 71 1/3 innings, but he also has a 1.30 WHIP and just 70 strikeouts to 38 walks. Given his struggles in his few MLB starts, there is some reason to believe that Rodríguez has the ceiling of a back-of-the-rotation arm in the big leagues who will never have tons of strikeout upside. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Yankees try to add him into a trade package to acquire an impact MLB player for their stretch run.

Rodriguez has a chance to be a multi-inning option for a bullpen game against the Dodgers. The 22-year-old will likely be sent right back down to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre regardless if he pitches during that contest or not.

Tyler Stephenson plated all three runs with his homer in the third. Rodríguez struck out four and walked two, with one of those free passes coming prior to the homer. He’s 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA in his first starts for the Yankees this season. He’ll return to Triple-A now, which would have been the case regardless of how he performed today.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone downplayed any concern regarding Gerrit Cole’s health earlier this weekend, stating that they merely want to give everyone in the rotation an extra day of rest. The 35-year-old veteran will get the ball for Monday’s series opener against Detroit with Rodríguez making a spot start against the Reds on Sunday afternoon. The 22-year-old top prospect’s raw numbers illustrate the significant gap between Triple-A and the majors, as he’s posted an inflated 4.15 ERA across 13 innings at the highest level while turning in a strong 3.00 ERA over 51 innings on the doorstep this season. He has a bright future ahead of him, but Rodríguez isn’t an appealing streaming option in a one-and-done spot spot start before heading back to Triple-A.

Jake Bird is being sent down. The Yankees are in the midst of a long stretch without a day off, so they wanted to give their starters some extra rest. Cole will now face the Tigers in Detroit, rather than the Reds at home. It also sets up Cam Schlittler to pitch Thursday in Boston, rather than Wednesday in Detroit.

Rodríguez can’t be recalled in the next 15 days unless he replaces an injured player, so that appears to take him out of the running to start this weekend. What the Yankees will do in that spot remains to be seen since they have said Gerrit Cole (elbow) will make one more rehab start.

Rodríguez allowed five hits, walked one and struck out one. All three of his starts for the Yankees have seen him get between 12 and 14 outs. He’ll take one more turn next weekend against the Pirates before Gerrit Cole is activated.

Rodríguez will get the nod instead of Ryan Weathers, who was previously scheduled to start the finale of the subway series. Rodríguez is taking the rotation spot of Max Fried (elbow), and the 22-year-old is considered one of the better pitching prospects at the upper levels. He’ll likely stick in the rotation until Gerrit Cole (elbow) returns near the start of June.

Rodríguez receives another opportunity in the big leagues with Yankees ace Max Fried landing on the injured list with a bone bruise in his elbow. The 22-year-old top pitching prospect allowed five runs with a 5/8 K/BB ratio across 8 2/3 innings during a pair of starts in his first taste of the majors a couple weeks ago. He’s talented enough to be fantasy-relevant, but he’s likely to wind up back in the minors once Gerrit Cole (elbow) is ready to make his season debut in late May or early June.

Rodríguez heads back to the minors to clear a rotation spot for Carlos Rodón (elbow) to return from the injured list this weekend. The Yankees will bring up some bullpen help until then. The 22-year-old pitching prospect walked four batters and allowed three runs over 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday in a no-decision against the Rangers. He figures to get another shot in New York at some point later this summer.