Yankees make roster move after claiming former Mets pitcher off waivers

For all the New York Yankees fans out there who were excited to see pitcher McKinley Moore take the mound for the Bombers in 2024, we're sorry but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. The right-hander was designated for assignment on Thursday.

That made room for former Mets right-hander Michael Tonkin, who now occupies a spot on the Yankees' 40-man roster. Tonkin's already appeared in games for the Mets and Twins this season, logging a total of nine innings with a 6.00 ERA and 1.56 WHIP. He's hit four batters but ... he's struck out 11.

This move, in all likelihood, is to give the Yankees another arm to weather the current storm of injuries and underperformances. Though Moore was reinstated from the injured list back on April 13, he's only seen 0.2 innings of action at Triple-A Scranton. He allowed two earned runs on SIX WALKS in that appearance.

Tonkin, at the very least, was a solid reliever with the Braves in 2023. He appeared in 45 games and pitched to a 4.28 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. He struck out 75 batters in 80 innings of work and allowed just 64 hits.

The right-hander is certainly hoping he sticks around for a bit because he's already been designated for assignment three times in a month.

Yankees News: Michael Tonkin claimed off waivers, McKinley Moore designated for assignment

It's worth noting that 2023 was Tonkin's first appearance in MLB since 2017. He spent 2018-2022 either in Japan, Mexico, the Independent League, or with an affiliated minor-league club. It's hard to argue with how he performed last year after that long layoff.

Tonkin offers that beloved fastball-slider-sinker combo the Yankees love (and also has a sweeper he throws infrequently). Maybe there's something here pitching coach Matt Blake can work with to make the veteran a viable middle-of-the-bullpen arm.

With bad news on DJ LeMahieu and no substantial updates on Tommy Kahnle or Scott Effross, there's a chance Tonkin sticks around for a decent while if he's able to offer anything of substance, so he's worth keeping an eye on for the next week or so.