Yankees need to show pitching prospect Cody Carroll some love

The Yankees bullpen is taxed, no one more so than Chasen Shreve, who somehow remains on the 25-man roster. His immediate replacement, though right-handed, should be No. 15 prospect Cody Carroll.

If Chasen Shreve weren’t the only left-handed reliever on the Yankees not named Aroldis Chapman, he would have been DFA’d weeks ago. In Shreve’s last seven appearances, the 27-year-old is 0-2 with a 7.11 ERA, 2.05 WHIP and has allowed nine hits in 6.1 innings of work.

There’s just no point in carrying a left-handed “specialist” that can’t get out left-handed hitters. Facing a total 44 lefties this season, Shreve has allowed eight walks and eight earned runs with a robust .257/.409/.676 slash line.

So what if Shreve is out of minor league options? Would any club in their right mind claim him? OK, besides the Mets.

With the Yanks unlikely to call-up Justus Sheffield until September at the earliest — and Josh Rogers’ name no longer being talked about like it was a short time ago, why not replace Shreve with 25-year-old Cody Carroll who has been stellar at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes/Barre?

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Though I suspect Tommy Kahnle will be the reliever promoted once Shreve is given his walking papers, I have a hard time making sense of Giovanny Gallegos’ recent promotion.

Again, I fully understand Gallegos is on the 40-man roster, but he’s been subpar at Triple-A this season. So you call him up as a reward, and also delay bidding farewell to Shreve? What kind of logic is that?!

Not only did the spark plug known as Clint Frazier get demoted because Luis Cessa is needed to start on Wednesday, but you replaced him with a 26-year-old Gallegos that has a 5.19 ERA in 12 appearances.

Throw in his miserable .278 BAA, 1.53 WHIP and 20 hits allowed in 17.2 innings and the move really leaves you scratching your head.

Gallegos’ only saving grace is his 1.84 FIP and 30:7 K:BB ratio. Oh and he went two innings while allowing two hits for the Yankees back on May 22.

However, in 24 appearances for those same Triple-A RailRiders, Cody Carroll is 3-0 with a 2.84 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and a 44:13 K:BB ratio in 32.2 innings pitched. Another stat the Yankee brass must love is that he has yet to allow a single home run this season.

Scranton RailRiders’ manager Bobby Mitchell is on the record saying that Carroll has future big league setup man-like stuff. Per NJ.com:

"“This kid has got an arm like you wouldn’t believe. When he’s throwing strikes and he’s throwing the slider for strikes, he dominates. He really does. We’ve seen him dominate hitters. What happens is, his command has gotten better and he just throws up in the zone, and you get swings there. He throws down in the zone, he gets a lot of takes for strikes because he gets on your really quick. Along with his slider, which is improving a ton, his stuff is electric. It really is. You could see him being a guy that can go up there, even now, and pitch well for them. They’re not going to rush him … he closes for us most of the time. He probably won’t close up there but he can be a guy that can set-up (Aroldis Chapman). He’s not too far off, for sure.”"

The Yankees need to stop going back to the well with the likes of Shreve and Gallegos. We’ve seen what they can do, and it doesn’t warrant them being on the 25-man roster or the 40. It’s time to find out what other young viable arms are capable of at the major league level.

With the use of his upper echelon 98-mph four-seam fastball, devastating 85-mph slider and power splitter, Carroll consistently controlled the inside of the plate on his way to being named to the most recent All Arizona Fall League team.

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Now that he’s followed up on that success against some of the games top prospects, the Yankees ought to DFA whoever they need to make room for Carroll because his pedigree and upside are far greater than a few names already in the Yankees ‘pen.

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