It took a while, but the Yankees’ rotation woes seemed to sort themselves out.
In the absence of Gerrit Cole, Max Fried cemented himself as ace, Carlos Rodon has been resurgent, Clarke Schmidt returned from the IL as an effective anchor, Ryan Yarbrough has been a valuable addition and, aside from a seven-run blowup against the Dodgers, Will Warren has begun to settle in (sort of).
It hasn’t all been perfect, but the Yankees’ performance has been good enough to distract from a minor-leaguer who has more than earned a callup. Lost in the fanfare of an emerging first-place season for the Yankees is Allan Winans.
In eight major-league starts with the Atlanta Braves across 2023 and 2024, Winans failed to impress, pitching to a 7.20 ERA. During the offseason, the Braves decided to DFA him. Boasting considerable success in the minors, Winans caught the eye of Yankees GM Brian Cashman, who picked him up on the waiver wire. Now with the Triple-A RailRiders, Winans has reached a whole new level.
In 33.1 innings this year, Winans has thrown to an unbelievable 0.27 ERA. That’s only one earned run on the season. He also made MiLB history when he struck out 10 of 11 batters to start a game, which is odd since he was never a strikeout pitcher. All that changed this year. Winans has fanned 39 batters on the season and maintains a .190 opponent batting average.
Normally, a pitcher performing as well as Winans would have made the bus trip to the big leagues already. For some reason, the Yankees seem hesitant to give him a chance. One can understand if the rotation is already packed and there’s no room for Winans, but the bullpen has cycled through various options during several different injuries. Why hasn’t Winans been called on for the relief role?
Winans has clearly figured some things out with New York, and since he is under club control through 2030, the Yankees are apparently in no rush to bring him up. But at age 29, one has to wonder if they are wasting his best years.
The point here is that dominance won’t last forever. He could be a valuable starter, an exceptional reliever or an intriguing trade piece. So either use him or trade him. Do something with Winans now, or he might just be a load of wasted opportunities.
