What is Rob Refsnyder’s Long Term Role with the Yankees?

With first baseman Mark Teixeira rejoining the New York Yankees Saturday against the Twins, it isn’t clear how the team can find regular playing time for rookie Rob Refsnyder going forward.

Despite never having played the position professionally before this month, Rob Refsnyder has performed admirably as the New York Yankees primary first baseman in June. A string of injuries to Yankees first basemen Mark Teixeira, Greg Bird, Dustin Ackley, and Chris Parmelee left the team scrambling for an everyday option. Even after the team signed Ike Davis to a major league deal last week, Refsnyder has continued to receive the lion’s share of the playing time.

After a brief slump when he took over the position, Refsnyder has gone 10-for-29 in his last eight games to raise his overall MLB line to .288/.345/.404 (97 wRC+) in 59 PA. He was similarly impressive with regular playing time last September, hitting .302/.348/.512 (130 wRC+) in 47 PA as the Yankees starting second baseman that month. He hasn’t embarrassed himself with the glove either, learning on the fly to pay a solid first base.

Mark Teixeira finished a three game rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre Thursday night and rejoined the big league club Saturday for their series against Minnesota. To make room for him, the Yankees designated recently acquired first baseman Ike Davis for assignment. The move spoke volumes about the team’s confidence in Refsnyder to backup the fragile Teixeira, which is encouraging since the front office has seemed tentative about giving the rookie an extended shot over the past two seasons.

With a solid .284/.366/.420 batting line in over 1000 Triple-A plate appearances, Rob Refsnyder has little left to prove offensively in the minors. Demoting him yet again after the way he’s played this season would have been an extremely disappointing move. At 25, it looks like he has finally managed to stick on the MLB roster. Unfortunately, although he has shown the ability to play four positions serviceably, New York doesn’t really have an everyday job to offer him with Texieira’s return.

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The best case scenario for Rob Refnsyder the rest of the year is that the team decides to rotate him between first, second, third, and right field to give their starters days off each week. If they can get him 4-5 starts a week, even if it’s as a super-sub, it will be better than having him waste another year down in Scranton.

Manager Joe Girardi told Chad Jennings of The Journal News Saturday, “I’m going to try to find at-bats for him. He’s going to play some first. He can play second. He can play right. We’re going to a National League city, (and) I think he provides you with a lot of options (to) pinch hit, so I’m going to find ways to get him at-bats. And Tex is someone, I don’t see us running him out there four or five days in a row right at the beginning. We’ll have to watch Tex closely and use Ref.”

A trade of Teixeira and/or Carlos Beltran in July is also a distinct possibility if the Yankees consider to fall out of contention, which would free up a spot or two in the lineup. In addition, with so many geriatrics on the team, another injury to a starter is probably inevitable. So while it’s a shame that Rob Refsnyder has probably lost his starting job for the moment, there are plenty of avenues for him to regain a spot in the lineup in the immediate future.