MINNEAPOLIS — The Yankees brought up a fresh arm Tuesday, and added a second left-hander to their bullpen in the process.
Reliever Nick Ramirez had his contract selected from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and he joined the Yankees at Target Field in time for their game Tuesday against the Twins.
The promotion came a night after the Yankees’ bullpen was forced to cover 5 ¹/₃ innings Monday while the team is in the midst of playing 16 games in 16 days.
The Yankees optioned reliever Greg Weissert, who threw 39 pitches in relief Monday, to Triple-A to make room for Ramirez on the 26-man roster.
They already had an open spot on the 40-man roster, so they did not need to make a move there.
Ramirez, a 33-year-old lefty who last appeared in the majors in 2021, got thrown right into action, pitching the final two innings of a 6-2 loss to the Twins.
He gave up a hit and two walks, but did not allow a run and struck out one.
“We liked him all spring,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We felt early on that there was a role there. Obviously not being on the [40-man] roster made it a little more challenging initially for him. But I think from jump street, from myself to our pitching group to front office, very much felt like this guy was going to play a role for us this year.”
At Triple-A to start the season, Ramirez posted a 1.74 ERA across 10 ¹/₃ innings.
His slider got better against lefties the more he continued to use it.
“Just throwing strikes, getting ahead,” Ramirez said. “That was one of the things I ran into in spring training. When I did give up hits and runs, I was falling behind and then having to come back into the strike zone, rather than getting ahead and then being able to go at hitters differently.”
Ramirez joins Wandy Peralta as the second left-hander in the Yankees bullpen. He returned to the Twin Cities on Tuesday for the second time in three days. The RailRiders had been in St. Paul, Minn., for a series through Sunday.
With the Yankees’ offense in a rut, Boone flipped Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo in the batting order, with Rizzo hitting second and Judge third, against Twins right-hander Joe Ryan. Rizzo had a rough night, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, while Judge went 1-for-4 with a run.
“Kind of just me and [bench coach Carlos Mendoza] hashing it out a little bit,” Boone said. “Wanting to make the switch, with a complement of lefties in there today, spreading it out a little bit. Shaking it up there a little bit.”
Lefty Carlos Rodon, whose recovery from a forearm muscle strain has been delayed by a stiff back, played catch Tuesday in Tampa and is scheduled to return to throwing off the mound Friday.
Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring strain) threw on Monday and hit off a tee. He’s “making improvements,” Boone said.