When the Yankees acquired Andrew Heaney at the trade deadline, the idea seemed to be upgrade from Nestor Cortes Jr. until one or both of Corey Kluber or Luis Severino was ready to return, and figure it out from there.
Since that time, they’ve seen another starter go down in Domingo German, and while Kluber has returned, he hasn’t been sharp in two outings…and there’s still no timetable for when, or if, Severino will be coming back.
Where does that leave Heaney? Right now, it’s in the bullpen, ostensibly as a potential piggyback behind a still-building Kluber…but that’s not how Aaron Boone used him Sunday, and how he was used definitely didn’t work out for the Yankees.
Coming in to start the seventh with the Yankees up 7-4, Heaney hit his first batter, then allowed two singles and a double to make it 7-6 with runners on second and third and no outs. The lefty retired Pedro Severino, but an RBI single by ex-Yankees prospect Jorge Mateo tied the game and chased Heaney, and Wandy Peralta came on and immediately yielded a Kelvin Gutierrez RBI single that gave Baltimore an 8-7 lead and closed the book on Heaney.
“I thought today coming out of the bullpen his stuff probably played up a little bit. He was the victim of soft contact, but in the end, he couldn’t get out of the inning,” Boone said after the game.
Soft contact or not, Heaney got just one out on 30 pitches and allowed four runs on four hits. Not an ideal line for a starter, let alone a pitcher called upon to start a fresh inning in a big spot late in a game where his team has a depleted bullpen (and already used two other hurlers behind Kluber).
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Bullpen overload, perhaps, but Heaney hadn’t pitched since throwing two innings in Anaheim six days prior, so
“Obviously we’ve had to lean on (the bullpen) a lot; we have a lot of confidence in the guys we have, but especially with (Jonathan Loaisiga) going down, we have to share the load and everyone has to get it done,” Boone said of his relief corps. “That’s been our hallmark this season: when we’re playing our best baseball, everyone has contributed.”
Loaisiga’s absence and the fact Aroldis Chapman had pitched two games in a row meant it was Heaney’s game, and prior to that game, Boone said he liked the length Heaney could give. However, he got only one of the final nine outs – Chad Green ended up getting six, but it was too little, too late, and now, the Yankees have a Heaney problem.
As in, where and how can they use him?
“He’s gonna have to step up; it’s an important role and he’s going to have to share it and step up,” Boone said of the lefty. “He wants the ball, and he’s going to have to take advantage of another opportunity when he gets it.”
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The problem is, where is that opportunity…and is it even on the Yankees?
Heaney has been roughly a league average starter for the last three-plus seasons but as a Yankee, he has allowed 18 earned runs in 26 innings over five starts, and allowed two runs in two innings in relief against the Angels before Sunday’s meltdown – giving him a 7.62 ERA as a Yankee, nearly 2.5 runs above where he was in 94 innings for the Angels over the first four months of the season.
Even with Kluber’s struggles since returning and Jameson Taillon seemingly hitting a bit of a wall late in the season, Heaney may not be one of the Yankees’ best four starters behind Gerrit Cole. As of Monday, Jordan Montgomery has a 1.93 ERA in the second half, Cortes has a 2.83 ERA in nine starts and has been on a roll, and Luis Gil, who is expected to make at least one spot start in this 20-game stretch (possibly during this upcoming Toronto series), is unscored upon in 15 2/3 MLB innings.
The Yankees also have Kluber and Taillon, who might be a piggyback tandem at this point, as well as Clarke Schmidt, who Boone said “has pitched well lately and will certainly put himself in that conversation” about a call-up somewhere.
Now is the time for the Yankees to put their best 13 to 15 pitchers on the roster, and even with Loaisiga, Severino, German, and Zack Britton on the IL (as well as Stephen Ridings, who was strong in a cameo earlier this season, on the Triple-A IL), Heaney’s spot seems perilous at best. He’s never been a true reliever, and if he isn’t going to be in the rotation, he’s a spot starter clogging a roster spot for whatever situations Boone can find.
That’s not ideal in a world where rosters expanded to only 28 instead of 40, and not with several other arms pitching well in Triple-A.
The Yankees are very conscious of the luxury tax, but on Sept. 15, the Angels will pay the Yankees $500,000 of the $2.32 million Heaney’s deal had left as of the trade. A $1.7 million mistake is hard to swallow, but the Blue Jays designated Brad Hand for assignment last week after acquiring him at the deadline, so it is a move a team looking to do its best to win can, and will, make.
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