CLEVELAND – The veteran non-roster arm that was bustling with the Yankees this spring has finally arrived.
The Yankees chose to sign left-handed reliever Tyler Matzek on Tuesday. That strong camp was engulfed in diagonal tensions that he recovered from five minor league matches and threw.
Yoendrys Gómez, who pitched three innings on Monday night and left out of a minor league option, was designated for appointments to create space on the roster.
Righty, 25, scored an ERA of 2.70 in six games, but walked nine times and hit only five times in 10 innings.
Matzek, 34, who won the World Series with the Braves in 2021, looked sharp early in the camp to attract the Yankees’ attention.
He has now been ruled out for more than two years from Tommy John’s surgery, and last season he didn’t pitch like he did and did not deal with elbow inflammation.
However, Matzek’s fastball was ticked more in line with the speed at which he underwent surgery before the elbow. And now he becomes another left-handed weapon for manager Aaron Boone to use the bullpen.
The Yankees currently have three left-handed saviors: Matzek, Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough.
Veteran Yabra provided length and looked solid since the Yankees signed him a major league contract a few days before opening day. He was also fresher than Gomez. Gomez may have focused on the decision as the Yankees near the end of a 13-day 13-game stretch where the bullpen is being asked to take on heavy loads.
