Yankees Select Ian Hamilton

The Yankees selected right-hander Ian Hamilton to their roster, per a team announcement. Brendan Kuty of The Athletic reported earlier that Hamilton was listed on the club’s roster for tonight’s game. The club opened a spot on the active roster by optioning Jhony Brito after yesterday’s game, which Bryan Hoch of MLB.com had previously relayed. To make room for Hamilton on the 40-man, righty Frankie Montas was transferred to the 60-day IL.

Hamilton, 28 in June, has some scattered MLB experience, making 15 appearances since the start of 2018. One of those appearances was with the Twins last year but he otherwise spent most of the season in Triple-A. Splitting his time between the Triple-A teams of the Twins and Guardians, he posted a 3.61 ERA over 47 1/3 innings, striking out 30.6% of opponents while walking 9.7%.

Hamilton signed a minor league deal with the Yankees this offseason and performed well in spring. He threw nine scoreless innings while striking out six batters and walking three. It was reported last week that he had an opt-out in his deal but agreed to kick it down the road to April 5. It seems the Yanks didn’t want him to get away and have now added him to their roster.

Brito just made his major league debut yesterday, tossing five scoreless innings, striking out six, while allowing just two hits and one walk. As noted by Hoch, the Yanks only need four starters for the next little while since they have an off-day on April 7, which led to Brito getting sent down despite his strong debut. Pitchers that have been optioned cannot return until 15 days later, though they can come back in less time if someone else is placed on the injured list or the club needs a 27th man for a doubleheader.

As for Montas, this move was an inevitable formality. He required shoulder surgery in February and was given an estimated 12-week shutdown period before he could even start throwing. That means he’ll potentially start tossing again in May, but he’ll then need to ramp up to a starter’s workload at that point.