The Yankees have trimmed the roster down to 36 in camp, re-assigning RHP Shelby Miller and catchers Rob Brantly, David Freitas, and Max McDowell to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre following Sunday’s game in Dunedin.
Brantly, Freitas, and McDowell were, until Saturday, somewhat competing for the chance to be Kyle Higashioka’s backup while Ben Rortvedt continues to recover from his oblique injury, but the team’s acquisition of Jose Trevino from Texas on Saturday night ended that.
Instead, the trio will all head to Scranton, the lone affiliate to begin its season prior to the MLB Opening Day. The RailRiders begin play on Tuesday, so their 25-man roster for the first series of the year
Miller, signed to a minor-league deal in March, made his camp debut Sunday, throwing one scoreless inning against the Jays. The former starter will work out of the bullpen in Triple-A as he tries to reinvent himself as a reliever, where he exclusively worked with the Cubs and Pirates in 2021.
With just 36 left for the final two days of camp, the Yankees have narrowed down the choices for their final four roster spots; one or two of Miguel Andujar, Marwin Gonzalez, Ender Inciarte, or Tim Locastro will be on the bench behind the backup catcher and infielder, and two or three of Manny Banuelos, Deivi Garcia, Luis Gil, Ron Marinaccio, Clarke Schmidt, or JP Sears will round out the 10 or 11-man bullpen for April.
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