Yankees recall out-of-nowhere option after Yerry de los Santos' concerning injury

Wednesday's loss may have had a more wide-ranging negative effect on the Yankees than just another punch in the head in a long line of them. Yerry de los Santos, who entered after Ryan Yarbrough's yeoman's work and struggled, was placed on the Injured List Thursday with the worrisome diagnosis of "right elbow discomfort".

Looks like the Yankees (sigh) found an ideal time for JT Brubaker to return and potentially cover the middle innings.

The Yankees have received exemplary starting pitching for months now. It also feels as if, each and every night, they get trapped in a simulation where they're forced to use four or five relievers at a time to hold down a close game (before ultimately letting it get away). That kind of repetitive grind can be harmful to relievers - especially those like de los Santos, who's found himself stretched out for multiple innings this season quite often, almost on a whim.

de los Santos was unable to complete the sixth inning on Wednesday, allowing a single to Mike Trout, a sharp lineout, and a walk before being relieved by Mark Leiter Jr., who wriggled out of his trouble. Less than 24 hours later, he's been placed on the shelf, replaced by lefty Jayvien Sandridge, who received an out-of-left-field spring training invite in February, and has been pitching at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season.

Yankees recall Jayvien Sandridge to replace Yerry de los Santos after right elbow discomfort

At the time of his arrival, we called him the "lefty Clay Holmes"; his numbers didn't match up with his strikeout stuff. The Yankees bullpen could certainly use an infusion of whatever Holmes brought to the 2021 club right about now, and Sandridge is riding a Triple-A heater, striking out 13 men in seven innings across six outings (with one earned run allowed). Since being elevated to the level after a spring rehab, he's found his footing nicely.

How long will Sandridge be here? And why didn't the Yankees go with the more familiar option in lefty Brent Headrick, who's been up and down a few times this year? It seems possible that Luke Weaver will be back sooner than his initial timeframe indicated; the Yankees' ferocious jungle cat got through moundwork unscathed on Tuesday, and claims he hasn't felt hamstring discomfort nearly since the day he first suffered it.

For now, the Yankees will ride with a wild card in Sandridge, and we'll hope that de los Santos is facing merely inflammation, nothing worse.