Yankees Announce Massive Roster Move as 3 Key Players Head to Injured List

The New York Yankees announced a massive roster move ahead of their series opener against the Baltimore Orioles.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo was officially placed on the injured list with a right forearm fracture. Replacing him on the active roster is top prospect Ben Rice, who officially earned his call-up to the major leagues Tuesday.

Read more: Yankees’ Anthony Rizzo Suffers Arm Fracture, Will Miss Significant Amount of Time

Additionally, the Yankees placed right-handed pitchers Ian Hamilton (right lat strain) and Cody Poteet (right triceps strain) on the 15-day injured list. Replacing them on the active roster are left-handed pitchers Clayton Andrews and Anthony Misiewicz.

Rizzo is expected to miss four to six weeks with the fracture, which should give Rice an extended run at the big league level. The Yankees officially listed Rice as a catcher and infielder, but he’s expected to play the majority of his innings at first base in Rizzo’s absence. He slashed .333/.440/.619 with an OPS of 1.059 in 11 games at Triple-A this year after earning a call-up from Double-A.

Read more: Yankees to Call Up Top Prospect to Replace Anthony Rizzo

As for the pitchers, Hamilton goes on the IL in the midst of massive struggles. After sporting a 2.81 ERA through his first 23 appearances of the season, Hamilton has struggled over the last week-plus, allowing seven earned runs in four innings of work. He saw his ERA skyrocket to 4.55, and will now miss time.

Poteet’s injury comes at an unfortunate time for him, as he’s thrived since being called up to replace another injured starter in Clarke Schmidt. Poteet has made four starts since his call-up, and has been sensational, sporting a 2.14 ERA in 21 innings pitched.

With Gerrit Cole’s return set for Wednesday, though, there was a chance Poteet would be sent down anyway, unless the Yankees wanted to adopt a six-man rotation (which seems unlikely with how dominant their rotation has been this year). However, in the event of an injury, he won’t be able to return for at least a couple weeks.

Coming up for the Yankees is Andrews, who’s made one appearance for the Yankees this year, pitching one-third of an inning and allowing a solo home run. He made four appearances with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2023, allowing 10 earned runs across 3.1 innings of work. He has a career 27.00 ERA at the MLB level, and had a 5.84 ERA in 20 Triple-A appearances this year.

As for Misiewicz, he’s played for five MLB teams since 2020, including the Yankees last year, when he had a 3.38 ERA in 2.2 innings of work. In Triple-A this year, he’s made 23 appearances, sporting a 3.23 ERA. He’ll now get a chance to work out of the bullpen for MLB’s best team.

The Yankees open a huge three-game series with the Orioles on Tuesday night. The two teams are separated by 1.5 games atop the American League East standings.

Rice is in the Yankees’ starting lineup Tuesday batting sixth, while Andrews and Misiewicz should be available out of the bullpen.