Ryan

Yarbrough

Yarbrough has been a swingman for most of his career, but the Yankees have kept bypassing him, usually in favor of Elmer Rodríguez, when they’ve needed a spot starter this season. That finally changed tonight, and Rodríguez was the one bypassed, as the Yankees used Yarbrough, Paul Blackburn and Brent Headrick to get through seven innings, all of them scoreless. Yarbrough has a 3.86 ERA in 39 2/3 innings over 25 appearances.

Yarbrough will get the lefties at the top of the lineup for the Dodgers, and while he has a starting background, it seems unlikely he’ll go more than an inning or two. Obviously, that doesn’t give him much of a chance for fantasy success, even before you consider those lefties he’ll be facing are pretty good.

It’s his second three-inning save of the year; he finished off a 15-1 game against the Royals on May 26. Of his 15 appearances this year, five have come with the Yankees up at least five runs and seven have come with the team down by at least three runs. That should help explain why he hasn’t factored into any decisions yet.

Yarbrough allowed two hits and one walk while throwing 44 pitches in the rout. It’s a nice reset for the rest of the Yankees pen, as he was the only reliever to work tonight. Yarbrough has a 3.66 ERA in 19 2/3 innings over 11 appearances.

Team USA could not guarantee Holmes enough innings to stay ready for the regular season, so back to Mets camp he goes. Also exiting the Team USA roster for the quarterfinal round are Michael Wacha, Ryan Yarbrough, and Tarik Skubal. Replacements for those three are Will Vest, Tyler Rogers, and Tim Hill. The team has not yet announced a replacement for Holmes, but Joe Ryan is expected to be in the mix.

He’ll make $100,000 extra for 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 innings thrown. Blackburn will probably compete with Ryan Yarbrough for the fifth rotation spot coming out of spring training, with the loser of the battle going to middle relief. However, Carlos Rodón could be back to claim the rotation spot before the end of April.

The deal, which had been reported on Monday, is now official after the 33-year-old southpaw passed his physical. Yarbrough will also have the ability to make an extra $250,000 in performance bonuses. He’s likely to reprise his role as a swingman for the Yankees after posting a 4.36 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and a 55/19 K/BB ratio across 64 innings in 2025.

The swingman threw 64 innings for the Yankees in 2025, posting a 4.36 ERA and 20.8 percent strikeout rate. In eight MLB seasons, Yarbrough has posted a 4.22 ERA and 654 strikeouts in 832 innings.

Yarbrough, who was in the rotation when he was hurt in June, will return from his oblique strain as a middle reliever. He has a 3.90 ERA in eight starts and eight relief appearances.

Yarbrough, on the IL with a strained oblique, is ready to be activated for a middle-relief role whenever. The Yankees aren’t going to bring him back as a starter unless someone gets hurt.