Bye bye, birdie.
That’s the message the Yankees delivered to one in all their latest relievers following Monday’s loss, because the crew optioned Jake Fowl to Triple-A with Mark Leiter Jr. coming off the injured record on Tuesday. The fitting-handed Fowl was acquired from the Rockies for prospects Roc Riggio and Ben Shields the day of the July 31 commerce deadline. Nonetheless, Fowl’s Yankees tenure has gotten off to a brutal begin.
On Monday in Texas, Fowl allowed a Tenth-inning, walk-off, three-run homer to Josh Jung after Yankees nearer Devin Williams allowed a game-tying solo shot within the ninth. Fowl additionally surrendered a grand slam to the Marlins’ Kyle Stowers in his Yankees debut on Friday in Miami. That recreation additionally ended up being a soul-crushing loss for the reeling Bombers, as different newbies Camilo Doval, David Bednar and José Caballero additionally performed pivotal components within the defeat.
Fowl did have a bounce-back look in Miami, logging a scoreless inning on Saturday. Nonetheless, he has allowed seven runs (6 earned), walked two and struck out 4 over two innings and three video games together with his new crew.
Fowl, now in his fourth MLB season, came to visit from the Rockies with a 4.73 ERA and 5 homers allowed on the season. He had truly been higher at Coors Area, posting a 2.48 ERA at dwelling however a 7.40 ERA on the street previous to the commerce.
That Fowl has minor league choices – in addition to crew management by way of the 2028 season – is definitely one of many the reason why the Yankees have been interested by him. After all, they certainly weren’t planning to make the most of his roster flexibility so quickly.
However with Leiter coming off the IL and Fowl making a poor first impression, the Yankees demoted the newcomer as an alternative of optioning the left-handed Brent Headrick or slicing long-man JT Brubaker.
Leiter, in the meantime, is coming off a leg fracture. The righty had a 4.46 ERA over 34.1 innings earlier than getting harm, however he was baseball’s unluckiest pitcher. The .411 batting common on balls in play opponents posted in opposition to him was the very best mark for any pitcher with at the least 30 innings this season.
Leiter’s 29.1 Ok% ranked thirty fourth amongst all relievers.
With Fowl optioned, the Yankees at the moment are down two of their pre-trade deadline acquisitions, as outfielder Austin Slater suffered a left hamstring damage in Monday’s loss.
Initially Printed: August 5, 2025 at 10:38 AM EDT
