As if the New York Yankees' 2024 season couldn't go any better, they were able to get Gerrit Cole back on the mound on Wednesday night in a heavyweight battle against AL East rival Baltimore Orioles. Entering the night with A 51-24 record, the Yankees had a golden opportunity to gain even more separation from the rest of the pack as they looked to improve their league-best win-loss tally. However, they came up just short after pulling off some heroics to send the game to extras, losing in the end by one run, 7-6.
The Yankees, however, wasted no time in making a roster move following the defeat to the Orioles on Wednesday. The current AL East leader has optioned relief pitcher Anthony Misiewicz back to Triple-A less than 24 hours after calling him up to the big-league roster, according to Yankees PR on Twitter (X).
Misiewicz received his first trip to the major leagues on Wednesday and he pitched a very important ninth inning during their 7-6 defeat to the Orioles. He was called upon by manager Aaron Boone to try and keep the Yankees' deficit to just one run in the top of the ninth, and to his credit, he delivered.
However, Anthony Misiewicz's inning of work did not go as smoothly as he would have hoped, but he got the job done regardless. The Yankees reliever got himself into a bases-loaded jam after he allowed a single to Jorge Mateo, a walk to Adley Rutschman and a single to Ryan Mountcastle, but he rebounded by striking out Austin Hays and then getting Anthony Santander to fly out to end the inning.
There is a bit of uncertainty yet as to who the Yankees will be calling up to replace Misiewicz's place in the 26-man roster. Fans are calling for Agustin Ramirez to be brought up to the majors, but he only recently arrived in Triple-A.
Misiewicz will be remaining in the Yankees' 40-man roster, which opens the door for an eventual return to the big leagues should their other relievers continue to struggle. The 29-year old lefty is currently sporting a 3.23 ERA in 30.2 innings pitched for the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
Orioles halt the Yankees' comeback bid
The Orioles played spoiler in Gerrit Cole's return; in Cole's very first inning of the 2024 season, the Orioles already put up a run on the board courtesy of a double from Ryan O'Hearn. Cole rebounded with an impressive second and third innings; during the former, he went three-up, three-down, and during the latter, he struck out the side even though he allowed a baserunner via walk.
After Cole allowed a single in the fifth inning, the Yankees pulled him and called upon Ron Marinaccio to try and keep the score tied. Marinaccio's relief appearance immediately turned into a nightmare; he allowed the baserunner, Cedric Mullins, to steal second, and then he allowed the very first batter he faced, Ramon Urias, to launch a ball deep over the left-field wall to give the Orioles a 3-1 lead. Marinaccio also allowed another run-scoring double from O'Hearn to make it 4-1 Orioles.
But even though the Orioles took a 5-1 lead into 7th after they added to their lead with yet another run-scoring double, this time courtesy of Ryan Mountcastle, the Yankees had a lot of fight left in them. Giancarlo Stanton uncorked a monster three-run bomb to center field to cut the Orioles' lead to one, and in the bottom of the ninth, thanks to Anthony Misiewicz' escape act, the Yankees were able to tie the game thanks to another clutch hit from Stanton.
Alas, the Yankees could not get the job done in the 10th; they ended up allowing two runs, with one crossing the plate due to a costly error, and then pinch-runner Oswaldo Cabrera was caught stealing, stopping the team's comeback bid in its tracks.
Time to make some moves to improve the bullpen?
The Yankees have no major roster weaknesses, hence their place as the team with the best record in the MLB. But contending teams can never have enough elite bullpen arms if they were to compete for a World Series trophy.
Ron Marinaccio was sporting a 2.12 ERA prior to tonight's poor outing, but his peripherals (4.39 fielding independent pitching) suggest that this may not be too sustainable. Victor Gonzalez, a lefty specialist, is also being held down by lackluster peripheral stats.
Anthony Misiewicz may not be the man who pushes the Yankees' bullpen over the top, which is why he's being sent down to Triple-A. But expect New York to make the most out of their window of World Series contention by adding an elite bullpen arm prior to the trade deadline.
