Manny

Bañuelos

Bañuelos spent last year pitching for the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball after making a career-high 35 relief appearances during the 2022 campaign between the Pirates and Yankees. The 32-year-old lefty was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball a decade ago, but never really wound up panning out at the highest level for a variety of reasons. TINSTAAPP.

Bañuelos had a 4.39 ERA in 41 innings for the Yankees and Pirates last season. The Pirates will likely try to bring him back on a minor league contract.

The 31-year-old southpaw made it back to the big leagues for the first time since 2019 in 2022 -- posting a 4.39 ERA, 1.29 WHIP and 42/21 K/BB ratio over 41 innings in 35 appearances between the Yankees and Pirates. He’s still talented enough that there may be another club willing to take a shot on him on waivers.

The Yankees were able to find a trade parter for Bañuelos after he was designated for assignment. The 31-year-old left-hander will join the Pirates bullpen after posting a 2.16 ERA over 8 1/3 innings with New York.

Bañuelos has been removed from the Yankees’ 40-man roster to make room for JP Sears to be recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and make a spot start on Tuesday night against the Athletics. The 31-year-old lefty has pitched extremely well this season, compiling a sparkling 2.16 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 8/3 K/BB ratio across 8 1/3 innings (four appearances). It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Yankees find a trade partner in the next few days.

Bañuelos entered Sunday’s contest in the seventh inning with the Yankees leading by over a touchdown and managed to record the final nine outs for his first career save. The 31-year-old lefty has pitched extremely well this year, allowing just one run on five hits with a 7/1 K/BB ratio across seven innings (three appearances).

Bañuelos will join New York’s bullpen ahead of Thursday night’s series opener against the Rays, looking to make his first major league appearance since 2019. The 31-year-old southpaw had a sharp 2.35 ERA and 30/12 K/BB ratio through 30 2/3 innings of work this season at the Triple-A level.

García and Gil are the most prominent names among the latest cuts from Yankees’ camp, but Bañuelos might be the most most shocking inclusion. The 31-year-old lefty turned heads this spring, posting six scoreless innings with a 7/0 K/BB ratio in three appearances (two starts). All three pitchers will open the regular season at Triple-A and could work their way back to the majors.

Bañuelos scattered two hits and also recorded three strikeouts. He’s looked extremely impressive across three appearances to kick off spring training and is now up to six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and zero walks. The 31-year-old lefty might have a real shot at winning a spot on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster.

The 30-year-old southpaw was originally signed by the Yankees in 2008 and pitched in their organization through the 2014 season without ever cracking the big leagues. The former top prospect pitched for Fubon in the Chinese Professional Baseball League in 2021 and then in the Mexican League, compiling a 2.51 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 136/43 K/BB ratio over 111 innings. He’ll add minor league starting pitching depth for the Yankees.