Yankees sign 2 surprise lefties, including ex-Blue Jay and reunion no one wanted

On Saturday afternoon, the Yankees placed Aroldis Chapman on the IL with a leg infection (via tattoo), but declined to replace him on the active roster.

Most assumed that they’d play willingly short-handed until Clay Holmes was prepared to be activated from his back injury-based IL stint. That move supposedly still awaits, prior to Monday’s series opener in Anaheim.

Until then, though, it appears the Yankees will go with a stopgap option, based on a locker decoration that showed up out of nowhere prior to Sunday’s finale in Oakland.

Looking to win the four-game series against the A’s, the Yankees will limp into the last contest with a tuckered-out bullpen following Saturday’s late-night loss. Ron Marinaccio’s got a stressed-out arm after a rare dud, Lou Trivino was checked for injury late in the game, and Jonathan Loaisiga worked some more spotless batters, but probably won’t be used to secure this particular victory.

Enter … left-hander Anthony Banda, formerly of the Blue Jays and Pirates. Combine Banda with Lucas Luetge, Greg Weissert and Wandy Peralta, and it’s clear the Yankees’ best hopes Sunday are for a blowout behind Clarke Schmidt.

Yankees sign Anthony Banda, Chasen Shreve

The 28-year-old Banda posted a — whew, boy — 5.88 ERA and 1.885 WHIP this season split between Pittsburgh and Toronto. 29 strikeouts in 26 innings must’ve enticed the Yankees enough to give him a try, though, as a warm body.

The only question that remains is whether or not Banda’s Yankees career will last longer than one singular day. Isn’t that exciting?

But the former Diamondbacks top prospect isn’t the only left-hander the Yanks tried to sneak past the goalie this week. In the aftermath of the Chapman IL stint becoming official, the team also plopped a Chasen Shreve minor-league deal onto the transaction wire silently.

https://twitter.com/TalkinYanks/status/1563937890215804928

The 32-year-old Shreve was a great Yankee in 2015, underwhelming Yankee in 2016, and somewhere in between in 2017. Midway through the 2018 campaign, he was flipped to St. Louis alongside Gio Gallegos in exchange for Luke Voit, a far more impactful deal than it seemed at the time.

Shreve’s 6.49 ERA with the Mets this season will now send him to Scranton, where he’ll more than likely end the campaign — pending a much bigger surprise.

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