Get ready to see a debut if you're headed to Yankee Stadium Friday: RHP Randy Vazquez will make his major-league debut Friday night, pitching "in some fashion" for the Yankees against the Padres, according to manager Aaron Boone.
Vazquez, 24, is ranked as the Yankees’ No. 12 prospect by MLB.com, and while his numbers in his maiden voyage at Triple-A this season underwhelming on paper – 1-5, 4.85 ERA, 1.570 WHIP, 4.9 BB/9 – he has been strong in his last four starts, allowing five earned runs in 21 innings and striking out 22.
The Dominican native signed for a $10,000 bonus in 2018 as a 19-year-old and was added to the 40-man roster this past winter, and his MLB debut will come in just the second MLB game he will ever see – the first being the Thursday night game he will watch from the dugout at Yankee Stadium.
Boone would not confirm Vazquez as the starter, waiting to see how the Yankees get through tonight, but whether he starts, is a bulk pitcher behind an opener, or is a piggyback, Vazquez is needed because Domingo German is ineligible to return from his 10-game suspension until Sunday, and Jhony Brito cannot return yet after being optioned to Triple-A after starting last Saturday in Cincinnati.
Adding Vazquez in for Friday’s game allows Boone to give Luis Severino an extra day of rest before his next start, which will now be Saturday, and re-add an extra reliever for that game, as well as Sunday’s, when Gerrit Cole will start on regular rest.
Per Boone, German will return on Monday in Seattle, and the Yankees will have off days on June 1 and June 5, so this schedule actually gives Severino extra rest for his next three starts – he would be on a five-day rotation schedule to pitch Friday, June 2, and then Wednesday, June 8.
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