Joey

Gerber

Gerber was called up over the weekend to fortify New York’s bullpen and heads to the shelf after making one relief appearance where he struck out five over two scoreless frames. He should be ready to return in late April.

Gerber, 28, wasn’t pitching that well at the Triple-A level, registering a 5.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and a 5/1 K/BB ratio over his five innings of work. He’ll work in a middle relief role for the Mets. Veteran right-hander Luis García was designated for assignment in a corresponding move on Sunday.

Mauricio had hit .313/.389/.531 in Spring Training, but it wasn’t quite enough to hold on to him in a utility role. He’ll start at Syracuse and look to get back to the bigs in the near-term future. Mauricio hit .323/.384/.508 in 73 minor league plate appearances last year, including .515/.564/.818 in Syracuse for 39 plate appearances.

Gerber was designated for assignment on Monday, so the Rays were able to facilitate a trade for him instead of just outright losing him. The 28-year-old posted a 2.08 ERA in 4 1/3 innings for the Rays last season but had a 6.23 ERA in 43 1/3 innings at Triple-A. He’s just organizational depth for the Mets.

You’d be excused for not knowing any of these players were even on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster; the five pitchers combined to throw 6 1/3 innings for the Rays last season and Fairchild was hurt one day after being acquired from the Braves in July. Faedo, who was acquired from the Tigers in February, ended up missing the entire season with shoulder problems after a rehab assignment in July went badly.

Gerber threw 35 pitches on Tuesday, allowing one run on three hits in 2 1/3 innings. He has a 2.08 ERA in 4 1/3 innings with the Rays, but will be sent down so the team can bring up a fresh arm in the bullpen.

The 28-year-old has a 6.09 ERA in 44 1/3 innings for the Rays in Triple-A this year, but the Rays need fresh arms in their bullpen. He has not been in the big leagues since throwing 15 2/3 innings for the Mariners back in 2020.

This is a procedural move since Gerber has already thrown 26 2/3 innings at Triple-A this season, but he was not on the 40-man roster and had an opt-out. The Rays have now added him to the 40-man and moved Hunter Bigge from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to make space.

Gerber will augment Tampa Bay’s organizational relief depth after missing most of the last four years due to injury. The 27-year-old righty made 17 relief appearances for the Mariners during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, posting a serviceable 4.02 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 6/5 K/BB ratio across 15 2/3 innings of work. He’s the definition of a low-risk lottery ticket.

As is typically the case at this point in March, there were no real surprises among this batch of cuts for the Yankees. Rice, 25, went 2-for-7 (.286) with a pair of RBI and a 2/3 K/BB ratio over five games in Grapefruit League action. He’ll begin the season as extra catching depth in the upper minors.