Ranking 5 injured Yankees by potential playoff impact

The New York Yankees used a four-game set against the Boston Red Sox in the Bronx to expel some demons of recent postseasons past, clinching a playoff berth that once seemed in peril while surging ahead in the AL East chase.

Now, the focus in New York is on maintaining momentum while integrating returning stars, rather than desperately treading water as more and more important players disappeared.

Giancarlo Stanton’s extended welcome back to the lineup hasn’t gone as well as anticipated, though, creating a midseason cautionary tale for what the Yankees hope to pull off this postseason. Integration into a lineup isn’t always going to be as easy as it was with Harrison Bader. The Yankees are about to experience a midseason roster crunch right at the finish line. It won’t be as simple as it seems.

Both Aroldis Chapman and Zack Britton have come back in recent days, but neither pitcher has gotten an extended chance to work out their kinks; both returns might’ve been acts of charity rather than genuine postseason auditions.

There are still at least five more returning Yankees en route, though, and some of them are supposedly big pieces of the October plan. Here’s our ranking of who’s welcome, and who might encounter the clubhouse door locked in their faces.

5 returning injured Yankees who could return on 2022 MLB Playoff roster

5. Miguel Castro and the Bullpen Mishmash

The Yankees’ bullpen is an exceedingly odd spot. Is anyone supremely confident in any of the current options to serve as closer? Not … really. Clay Holmes has been sitting in the front car of a roller coaster for two months at least. Jonathan Loaisiga is 85% of the way to where he should be, but what if the 15% shows up in a one-run game on the road? Ron Marinaccio, Scott Effross, Lou Trivino and Clarke Schmidt have all been solid Bs lately.

But … is there anyone lurking in the minors who you’d want to use over any of the Yankees’ current options? Not really! There are too many talented arms, but not enough breakout pitchers peaking at the right time and taking charge. While it’s safe to say the unsettled bullpen is concerning, nobody would rather see Chapman or Britton jogging in from the ‘pen on anything other than a trial basis.

Sadly, the same goes for Miguel Castro, who remains in bullpen purgatory and hasn’t been activated from his rehab assignment yet.

When Castro was around during the season’s first half, he was a high-ceiling/equally-low-floor sixth-inning option. If he’s crammed into the bullpen at the expense of Schmidt/Domingo Germán, he wouldn’t serve any purpose not already handled by the man he’d be replacing.

His return could happen — and Chapman/Britton could make the postseason roster, too — but it would probably cause more confusion than joy.

4. Frankie Montas

If you could promise us that a full-strength version of Frankie Montas — otherwise known as a playoff No. 2 — might be returning in October, he’d be teleported all the way to the top of this list.

However, if the Yankees get Montas at all, that won’t be what they’re getting. Aaron Boone has officially acknowledged that, while the trade deadline acquisition will throw this week, it might be (might be!) too late for him to get stretched out into anything beyond an “opener/relief role” by the ALDS.

Therefore, if the Yankees carried Montas — and if the right-hander can “get right” — he’d be a complete wild card in a bullpen full of (again, with a grain of salt) trusted options. Nobody’s sure who’s getting the final out of a one-run game for the Yankees (and that’s bad!), but you could pretty easily come up with a list of eight pitchers you’d rather see enter a tight postseason game before giving Frankie Montas a chance to stretch out and re-learn his own arsenal.

The bright side of the Yankees’ Montas swap is that the All-Star right-hander has another year in the Bronx to change the narrative. The other bright side is that both MLB-ready arms sent to the A’s — JP Sears and Ken Waldichuk — are struggling right now, and wouldn’t be reliable options for the upcoming Yankees’ postseason, either.

Next year, Montas could reignite the fan base’s flame. For now, his return would only create more chaos.

3. DJ LeMahieu

Sadly, DJ LeMahieu’s return is another example of adding a strength-sapped version of a comeback player potentially being more harmful than never seeing that player again.

There was a time, not too long ago, when LeMahieu’s 2022 season was being heralded as a return to form. He’s been worth 3.8 WAR in 451 at-bats. As recently as July, he triple-slashed .344/.462/.490 in 25 games. In the first half, he posted a 125 OPS+ in 83 games.

Then, sadly, the Toe Stuff arrived. Toe Stuff, Foot Stuff’s awful cousin, turned LeMahieu into a powerless non-factor at the plate, sapping consistency from his swing and inducing rollover after rollover. LeMahieu’s OPS dropped from .951 in July to .550 in August, at which point fans were told that an IL stint wouldn’t completely solve the issue, and the gamer utility infielder would simply have to play through it.

“Nope!” said LeMahieu’s Numbers. Unable to drive off his back foot whatsoever, by early September it was clear there was no point to wedging a hobbled LeMahieu into the lineup every day. Oswaldo Cabrera instantly stepped into LeMahieu’s role in the starting lineup, and sparked New York, while Gleyber Torres’ sudden turnaround has made him indispensable at second base.

If the Yankees wanted to, they could start Cabrera at short, a healthy LeMahieu at second, Torres at DH, and Josh Donaldson at third, with Giancarlo Stanton in the outfield. But considering Stanton’s not ready for that, the team has no intention of burying Isiah Kiner-Falefa, there’s no true left fielder, and LeMahieu’s toe could still need healing, his return at anything less than 100% would present additional problems.

And even his return at 100% would kick someone essential out of the lineup. Stanton? Cabrera? The possibilities are endless…ly frustrating.

2. Andrew Benintendi

Among the most helpful returning players, Andrew Benintendi’s comeback is also the least likely. Which is fun for this whole “speculation” thing.

Oswaldo Cabrera has earned the right to be a factor in October, but the more often he can be slotted into natural positions (shortstop, second base), the better. Right now, a kid who switched to right field midstream this season, only to be shuffled to left after he proved he could handle a bizarre challenge, is your de facto playoff starter. If Cabrera hadn’t been so brilliant in the field thus far, it would definitely be perceived as a liability.

If the Yankees were able to welcome Benintendi back from a hook fracture in his wrist, and he was swinging pain free, he’d be a Harrison Bader-level defensive addition as well as a proven playoff bat who helped carry the Yanks through some difficult times towards the end of August.

When Benny initially went down in Tampa, it felt like the beginning of the end of the end. The collapse already felt mostly sorted, but Benintendi’s exit seemed to serve as the final nail indicating the season’s bleakest moments really were upon us.

Instead, the Yankees persevered and found unique solutions without him. That doesn’t mean some assurance of his return wouldn’t be welcomed.