Yankees prospect hints at unexpected return for Subway Series with latest Instagram

Everyone enjoyed Yankees top pitching prospect Randy Vásquez's start against the Chicago White Sox last Thursday, but that doesn't mean seeing him pop up on Tuesday is a joyous occasion.

Per the pitcher's Instagram story on Tuesday morning, he's at Yankee Stadium as the Subway Series is set to begin at Citi Field after serving as the "27th man" during last week's doubleheader before being shipped back to Scranton. That means he's either on the Taxi Squad with the team (?), or something's wrong.

Luis Severino (surprise, surprise) was originally set to start Tuesday's series opener against Mets mercenary Max Scherzer. Both Severino and Vásquez started halves of last Thursday's doubleheader, so both men would be on schedule to start tonight, if necessary.

So, what's up? Could Severino have been hiding an injury as his velocity disappeared over the past two starts? Could dropping down to 94 have been an indicator that something was wrong, as every single viewer predicted? Or is this just a reset? Are the mechanics so out of whack that the Yankees would rather formulate a phantom IL stint rather than send Sevy to the wolves against the struggling Mets?

Or ... is it something else entirely? Something completely out of left field? Remember, it could always get worse.

Yankees' Randy Vásquez joining team in New York for Subway Series?

Despite early success at the big-league level attacking the zone, Vásquez has had trouble adjusting to Triple-A. His small sample size 1.74 ERA with the Yankees is far more pleasant than his 1.63 WHIP and 5.13 ERA in Scranton.

Still, when it comes to MLB electricity, the right-hander has shown more in a limited time frame than Jhony Brito did across the majority of April and May. After a difficult first month-plus, Clarke Schmidt ascended. After an attention-grabbing debut, Brito and his pair of pitches receded. It is what it is.

Now, it seems Vásquez has rightly replaced the changeup artist in the pecking order. But ... why is he here? Stay tuned.