YankeesRoundtableYankeesRoundtable Cody Bellinger is expected to be back on either Sunday or Tuesday after a couple of AAA rehab starts under his belt
Should the Yankees either send down Spencer Jones, send down the recently called up Max Schuemann, or DFA Amed Rosario?
If it makes sense positionally, I would send down Schuemann and have Jose Caballero be the every day 3rd baseman until Ryan McMahon is back off the IL
If they don’t want to send down Schuemann because they want a backup infielder, then DFA Amed Rosario, even if he’s beloved in the locker room and the king of vibes. Rosario simply isn’t hitting left-handed pitching this season which is his main job and is a horrid defender. Rosario hit 2nd in the lineup last night against the Blue Jays against a lefty opener, walked and was instantly lifted for a pinch runner in Jazz Chisholm Jr.
The last thing I would want to do is send down Spencer Jones who’s been scorching hot with back-to-back games with home runs, outstanding speed, and surprisingly really good production against left-handed pitching.
We can’t watch daily Heliot Ramos at bats anymore, let Spencer have those AB’s against righties until Aaron Judge is back sometime in SeptemberAug 22, 2026 YankeesRoundtable Fernando Cruz has a 6.35 ERA since July 31st, he gave up a game-tying homer to Dylan Beavers in the 7th inning yesterday, and his splitter seems like it has no bite recently
With the way the bullpen’s been getting worked with Brent Headrick, Paul Blackburn, and David Bednar pitching lights off but so often we really need Cruz to lock back in
It’s just tough with Cruz because everyone knows he’s a predominantly splitter pitcher and he tries to get batters to chase on it and his secondaries of his fastball and sinker aren’t very good.
On top of that, he also doesn’t have good command, including purposefully throwing out of the zone so many times to try to get whiffs and ultimately strikeouts.
Cruz also has given up 4 earned runs, 3 home runs, and 6 hits in his last 5.2 innings since July 31st across 8 games. This is supposed to be out high leverage guy that can pitch up to the 9th inning, play the fireman role, and get out of some huge jams with his strikeout expertise
The home runs were an issue for Cruz when he was with the Reds, he’s up there in age, hopefully this isn’t a sign for things to come after how great he was last season and the first half of this season. They’ve been giving him extra rest and he still doesn’t look sharp, and he’s giving up a ton of barrelsAug 20, 2026 YankeesRoundtable YankeesRoundtable YankeesRoundtable YankeesRoundtable YankeesRoundtable 
