Reinforcements to help the Yankees’ thin bullpen are (literally) on the way.
Scott Efros’ rehab assignment has been moved from Low-A Tampa to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and he was scheduled to make his third minor league appearance on Wednesday night.
In his first two games with Tampa, the right-hander pitched three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four.
Efros isn’t close to making his debut in 2024 — “He’s still got a long way to go,” manager Aaron Boone said — but he could be an option in the coming weeks.
The Yankees are treading cautiously with a pitcher who has undergone two surgeries and has been sidelined for a year and a half.
Efros last pitched on Oct. 3, 2022, before needing to undergo Tommy John surgery, which ensured he missed that year’s postseason and the entirety of last season.
His return was then hindered by back surgery in December 2023, which meant he was placed on the 60-day disabled list to start the year.
Before the setbacks began, Efros looked like a solid bullpen pitcher.
The now 30-year-old, acquired from the Cubs at the 2022 trade deadline, pitched 12 2/3 innings before surgery, allowing three runs with 12 strikeouts.
The Yankees bullpen will accommodate him when he’s ready.
The once-powerful team has been hit hard this month, with a 4.54 ERA in June entering Wednesday’s Subway Series finale at Citi Field, and has lost key pitchers Ian Hamilton, Nick Burdy and Jonathan Loaisiga.
Victor Gonzalez, whom the Yankees designated for assignment on Friday, will remain with the team.
The left-hander cleared waivers and was transferred directly to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Aaron Judge entered the game with 29 home runs in his first 81 games for the Yankees, a major league-leading 75 RBIs and a .304 batting average, third in the American League.
He has been in good form since the end of April, hitting eight home runs in his 14 games so far.
His OPS was 1.128, 95 points better than Shohei Ohtani’s 1.033.
“It’s hard to comprehend what level he’s playing at right now,” Boone said. “Especially this time of year, he’s really hard to hit. The league average OPS is probably around .700 right now, which is almost 100 points higher than Ohtani’s, and that’s after a tough April.”
“I was really moved.”
