The New York Yankees recalled right-hander Bradley Hanner from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before Tuesday night’s game, setting up his MLB debut and giving a thinning bullpen another arm. At the same time, Kervin Castro went on the 15-day injured list retroactive to 8/10 with right elbow neuritis.
For Hanner, 27, the move comes after a summer in which he put together a 2.10 ERA in 51 1/3 innings while allowing 36 hits. The Yankees needed help, and he arrived as the kind of call-up clubs make when they need an arm that has been getting outs without much hesitation.
That is the immediate reason his name is being searched now. Hanner had spent his summer in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and the promotion gives him his first chance in MLB after years moving through the Minnesota and Cleveland systems. He had already shown he could handle higher-level hitters, posting a 2.78 ERA with 70 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings in Akron in 2023, then following with a 2.77 ERA in 55 innings the next year after returning to Double-A.
The most recent Triple-A line was a little noisier. Hanner had a 4.74 ERA in 49 1/3 innings there, but he still struck out 62 batters, which is the sort of split that can keep a pitcher in the conversation when a bullpen is losing bodies. The Yankees had been losing relievers, and this move fits that reality more than it reflects a tidy long-term plan.
Castro’s exit only sharpens that picture. He had been effective, with a 1.42 ERA, 8 strikeouts and only 6 1/3 innings before the injury, but right elbow neuritis pushed him out after a short run. He had replaced Angel Chivilli in the bullpen, and now the job swings again, this time to a debuting pitcher who had to be protected and added to the 40-man roster when he tried to leave it.
What happens next is straightforward enough: Hanner gets his first shot on a major league mound, and the Yankees have to see whether a 27-year-old with a long minor league trail can hold a bullpen spot that has already been changing by the day. Castro’s return is unresolved, but the injury list means the Yankees will have to cover that inning load without him for at least the minimum absence.
