Yankees Call Up Luis Cessa and Ben Heller to Supplement Bullpen

The Yankees called up Luis Cessa and Ben Heller to supplement their relief corps before Thursday’s game, optioning Rob Refsnyder and Nick Goody to Triple-A.

Starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi left after the first inning of the New York Yankees’ 9-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox Wednesday night, forcing manager Joe Girardi to use seven relievers in the game to eke out the victory.

The front office has provided the Yankees skipper with some fresh arms Thursday, calling up pitchers Luis Cessa and Ben Heller from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. To make room on the 25-man roster, the Yankees optioned infielder Rob Refsnyder and reliever Nick Goody to the Railriders.

The 24-year-old Cessa, who came over from the Tigers along with Chad Green in the Justin Wilson trade this winter, has been up and down regularly for the Yankees in 2016. He’s made six big league appearances this season, pitching to a 3.95 ERA in 13.2 innings of work, striking out seven and walking five. 

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In between call-ups, Luis Cessa has put together a solid season in Scranton Wilkes-Barre’s rotation. He has a 3.30 ERA 8.03 K/9 in 14 starts (77.1 IP).

Before this move, the Yankees had one open 40-man roster spot. That has now been filled by Ben Heller, who was the third piece in the Andrew Miller trade. The 25-year-old righty is best known for a blazing heater that can touch 100 mph regularly, which he complements with a sweeping slider.

The former 22nd round draft pick has made it to the big leagues in just his fourth professional season. He has a 1.60 ERA and 10.4 K/9 over 45 IP in the upper-minors this year.

Heller is Rule 5 draft eligible this winter, so a call-up has seemed inevitable since the trade, especially given all the top arms the Yankees traded away at the deadline. He has the potential to be a real weapon in the bullpen down the stretch for them, and it would not be surprising to see him develop into a solid late-inning arm. 

It’s always a little disappointing to see Rob Refsnyder be sent down, since he’s gone through so much the last three years to establish himself in the big leagues. On the other hand, this feels like a temporary move just to give Girardi an extra fresh arm or two in the bullpen for the next week.

Refsnyder simply has not been hitting much recently. His batting line has fallen to .264/.336/.328 (78 wRC+) and he doesn’t offer enough defensively to keep him on the roster at the moment. At the very least, we will see him when rosters expand, if not sooner.