Yankees add familiar face to bullpen core via waiver claim from Royals

Yankees bring back a familiar face via waivers claim from the Royals.

26-year old Albert Abreu is on the move once again, but this time, he’s returning to where his big league career begin: the New York Yankees.

2022 has been a busy one for the young right-hander, as he was traded in the Jose Trevino deal from the Yankees to the Texas Rangers on April 2, and then once again traded to the Kansas City Royals from Texas on June 2, only to be recently designated for assignment by the Royals after just four outings.

Between the Rangers and Royals, Abreu has looked okay, owning a 0-0 record and a 3.46 ERA in 11 total appearances between the two clubs. His ERA+ is 120, but he has surrendered three home runs in just 13 innings and has walked (16) more batters than he has struck out (12).

Albert Abreu has been (re)claimed off of waivers by the New York Yankees.

Abreu broke into the league back in 2020 for the Yanks, pitching in just two games and surrendering four runs (three earned) in just an inning and a third. In 2021, he made 28 appearances out of the Yankees pen, posting a 5.15 ERA in 36+ innings and gathering 35 strikeouts against 19 walks.

Over the course of his brief big league career to this point, Abreu has a troubling HR/9 rate of 2.1 (less than 1.0 is considered good) and has walked a ghastly 6.5 batters per nine innings with just 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings. None of these numbers will cut it at the big league level, so he will need a dramatic turnaround if he is to stick around in the majors.

Used exclusively as a relief pitcher in the big leagues, Abreu actually has considerable experience starting games in the minor league systems of both the Astros and Yankees. His future outlook is likely remaining in the bullpen as the Yankees rotation is 100% set with Nestor Cortes, Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, Jameson Taillon and Luis Severino forming one of the deadliest starting rotations in the big leagues.

To make room for Abreu rejoining the big league club, the Yankees elected to designated fellow right-hander David McKay for assignment. McKay, 27, has bounced around the league as well, making big league appearances for the Mariners, Tigers and Yankees over the past few seasons.