Yankees officially welcome Ryan McMahon, bullpen help to roster after Friday meltdown

Friday night's performance at Yankee Stadium against the Philadelphia Phillies confirmed two things: Ryan McMahon doesn't have the capability to solve all this team's problems by himself, and Scott Effross and his vaunted "years of control" are not long for the Yankees' bullpen.

The Yankees entered the top of the seventh inning with a 3-2 lead, wondering how they'd navigate through their beleaguered 'pen. The ended the top of that frame down 6-3, and ended the game in the mud at 12-5, kicked in the teeth repeatedly before the final bell. Effross entered to soak up the ninth after Ian Hamilton had surrendered a Schwarbomb, and could not for the life of him record the final out, draining more life from the ballpark with every frisbee slider.

We'd like to be generous and say Effross has never "been the same" since the Tommy John surgery shocker that knocked him out just before the 2022 playoffs, but unfortunately, we didn't see enough of him in pinstripes to know for certain what he really was before that injury. He's been mostly a mirage since Brian Cashman flipped a top pitching prospect for him in Hayden Wesneski, and he continued to be a ghost on Friday night, cleaning out his locker beside Jorbit Vivas, who the team predictably demoted for the slick-fielding new addition McMahon.

Who'd be coming up to replace him? A dull option on the 40-man like Jayvien Sandridge? A marquee trade acquisition in the dead of night? Turns out, it's a friendly face we all forgot about: budding long man Yerry de los Santos is back from his stint with "right elbow discomfort," which began on June 19.

Yankees bring Yerry de los Santos back from injury to help ailing bullpen, demote Scott Effross

Not quite the dream Yankees fans were hoping for as they shut their eyes last night, but de los Santos should capably cover some of the innings that were previously being handed to Effross and treated ineffectively.

The Yankees' creative prize of the 2022 deadline now heads back to Triple-A with an 8.44 ERA in 11 games this season, and the team's bullpen as a whole sports a 5.49 ERA going back to the Dodgers series in LA at the end of May. That's second-worst in baseball, behind McMahon's Rockies.

A high-profile reliever or two (or three) will be extremely necessary in the coming days, and the Yankees still have Allan Winans, JT Brubaker, and Ian Hamilton - who has options - flanking de los Santos in their current 'pen. After Joel Sherman named the bullpen and pitching staff as Brian Cashman's primary concern, with third base a secondary target entering the weekend, it's no wonder they went for McMahon first and hung the bullpen out to dry a little longer.