Yankees call up Tyler Wade, place Thairo Estrada on the IL with hamstring strain

Tyler Wade is back in the big leagues after the Yankees placed IF Thairo Estrada on the 10-day IL on Sunday with a right hamstring strain. This will be Wade’s third stint with the big league club this year and with September right around the corner, he could be here to stay for the rest of the regular season.

Wade was with the Yankees just a few weeks ago when the team hosted the Diamondbacks but his stay was a short one and he was sent back down after just four days. He actually hit his first home run of the season during the stint, but he was optioned back to Triple-A to open up a spot on the roster for the returning Brett Gardner.

At Triple-A this season Wade has put up really good numbers again hitting .296 with 4 HR, 38 RBI, and 13 stolen bases. There’s nothing else for him to prove at the minor league level but because the Yankees are so deep with middle infielders he’s been stuck there for the majority of the last two seasons. It’s also due to the fact that he hasn’t produced offensively at the big league level since his debut in 2017 even though his sample size of at-bats has been small.

Wade is a career .177 hitter in the majors in 175 at-bats with a .257 SLG.%. This season he’s hit .216 in 51 at-bats with 1 HR and 6 RBI. Most of them came during April after he was called up on the 1st of the month following the injuries to Troy Tulowitzki and Miguel Andujar.

When Andujar returned from the IL on May 4th and attempted to play through the labrum tear Wade and Estrada were both on the big league roster and Mike Ford was demoted to make room for Miggy. However, four days later Wade was also optioned back to Scranton to make room for Clint Frazier after he returned from the IL. When Miggy went back on the IL on the 13th and it was announced he was out for the season the Yankees opted not to bring Wade back up and stuck with Estrada because he was the better hitter.

During the second half of the season, Wade has also been passed over for a big-league call-up multiple times for IF Breyvic Valera, but this time around he got the nod. During Valera’s most recent stint he only hit .207 in 29 at-bats and had a couple of baserunning blunders that simply aren’t acceptable at any level. He was recently placed on the inactive list at Triple-A on the 17th due to the birth of his son but Wade probably would’ve been called up ahead of him anyway because of the recklessness he showed on the bases earlier this month.

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Wade’s return comes at a good time because the Yankees will begin a huge three-game interleague series out west against Dodgers this weekend. Playing under National League rules could lead to Wade seeing some time off the bench as a defensive replacement in some double switch scenarios or as a pinch-runner.

He can be very valuable in that role because although he hasn’t hit much since his debut he’s proven to be an elite defender wherever the Yanks have put him as well as an excellent base stealer. With the expansion of rosters nearing in September, Wade will probably play in a lot of games down the stretch in some form and could make a big impact with his speed or his glove.

It would be an added bonus if he could finally give the Yankees some offensive production because he’s above average in every other facet of the game.