After the Yankees reportedly added another arm to its bullpen Friday afternoon, manager Aaron Boone provided context to the move.
Before the Yankees' 10-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night, New York claimed RHP Cory Gearrin off waivers, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal first reported.
In a pregame media availability with Boone, he said his team's newest pitcher brings several advantages to the bullpen as it pads its depth ahead of September and October.
"Excited to get him," Boone said of Gearrin, according to NJ Advance Media's Brendan Kuty, after the Yankees confirmed the transaction. "A guy that's really tough on right-handed hitters. Hopefully there's some things that we could do with him that help him improve on his game even a little bit more. But we feel like he's a guy that, in the month of September as we expand (rosters), can be a guy that, there are some lanes in the course of a game that he can be really good."
Gearrin, 33, brings experience as an eighth-year veteran in the big leagues since 2011. He began the season with the Seattle Mariners, going 0-2 with a 3.92 ERA and 1.427 WHIP while striking out 39 and walking 21 in 41.1 innings.
Gearrin's numbers in 2019 against right-handed hitters -- highlighted by a .227 batting average on a 22-for-97 mark with a .643 OPS -- are a part of what attracted Boone and the Yankees. His last appearance came Aug. 21, fanning two and allowing one free pass in a hitless inning of work during the Mariners' 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.
To create room on the 40-man roster, the Yankees released RHP Domingo Acevedo. The 25-year-old from the Dominican Republic, who had been in the Yankees' system since 2013. He spent the bulk of his season with the Double-A Trenton Thunder, recording a 7-1 record with a 3.86 ERA and a 0.943 WHIP in 35.0 innings over 22 games (11 starts).
Acevedo also made 10 appearances with the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, sporting a 1-0 mark with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.380 WHIP in 16.2 innings. He has been considered among the Yankees' top prospects at times, but his durability has been a concern, ultimately pushing him into a relief role in 2019.
According to reports from ESPN's Marly Rivera and the New York Post's George A. King III, the Yankees sent RHP Jonathan Loaisiga down, making room for Gearrin on the 25-man roster. Loaisiga appeared twice -- last Wednesday against the Cleveland Indians and Tuesday at the Oakland Athletics -- in his first action back since May 8 earlier in the season. The 24-year-old posted a 6.75 ERA in the Yankees' losses to the Indians and Athletics, a return from his right shoulder strain that originally landed him on the 60-day injured list May 13, striking out six while walking two and allowing two home runs in 5.1 innings. Across six appearances with the Yankees in 2019, dating back to April 3, Loaisiga is 1-1 with a 5.12 ERA and 1.448 WHIP.