Yankees Make Shocking Move in Bullpen Amid Injury Woes

The Yankees shook up their bullpen with a stunning decision.

Jun 6, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Victor Gonzalez (47) delivers a pitch during the sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees made a stunning decision to their struggling bullpen.

In a flurry of roster moves on Friday, the team announced that left-handed reliever Victor Gonzalez has been designated for assignment. The Bronx Bombers additionally called up right-hander Yoendrys Gomez from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and signed Phil Bickford (another righty) to a major league contract.

Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees made the following roster moves:
• Signed RHP Phil Bickford (#53) to a Major League contract and selected him to the active roster.
• Designated LHP Victor González for assignment.
• Recalled RHP Yoendrys Gómez (#94) from Triple-A…

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 21, 2024

While the call-up of Gomez is noteworthy, especially due to the promise he's shown as a prospect, the biggest move here is the departure of Gonzalez; the Yankees have effectively replaced him with Tim Hill, who they signed on Thursday and is now one of just three left-handers in the bullpen (Caleb Ferguson and Anthony Misiewicz are the other two).

What makes the decision to DFA Gonzalez surprising is that he has a decent ERA of 3.86 and a 1.11 WHIP in 27 appearances; however, the Yankees are looking for strikeout relievers to balance out the bullpen, which primarily consists of pitch-to-contact relievers. Gonzalez has an excellent ground ball rate on Baseball Savant at 54.3%, but the rest of his peripherals are decidedly poor.

Gonzalez's strikeout rate of 11.3% ranks in the first and lowest percentile, his walk percentage of 13.4 is in the eighth, his whiff rate is in the sixth at 18.1%, and his chase rate of 24.9% ranks in the 19th percentile. This decisively makes Gonzalez a pitch-to-contact pitcher, and his 44.3% hard-hit rate (15th percentile) indicates that he isn't a very good one, either. Despite having the 3.86 ERA, his xERA is 5.17 due to his poor peripherals, which indicates he would regress badly if the Yankees continued to use him at their current rate.

“It was hard getting him into a good role here," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "He definitely had some struggles with strike-throwing and not putting guys away. It felt like over the long haul, this was something we were going to have to address.”

Not helping Gonzalez's case was his appearance on Wednesday, when he plunked Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson; many suspected that this was retaliation for the Orioles' Albert Suarez hitting Aaron Judge the night before, although Gonzalez denied this. Regardless if he meant it or not, Henderson went on to score a key run in a game the Yankees lost 7-6 in extra innings.

Matt Blake on Victor González: “I wouldn’t say it was cut & dry that he was the guy,” to DFA.

The #Yankees pitching coach thinks he'll get scooped up. Meanwhile, Aaron Boone pointed to González's strike throwing & shrunken K% when discussing the decision. https://t.co/0CWQHUqmUu

— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) June 21, 2024

The Yankees' bullpen has struggled lately, with a 5.16 ERA over their last 29 games; they plan to address reliever depth at the trade deadline as they attempt to win a World Series for the first time in 15 years. Nonetheless, the Bronx Bombers ultimately determined that Gonzalez was a part of that problem, and have decided to take a chance on other relievers with better efficiency.