The Yankees are about to get crowded in a hurry, and Amed Rosario looks like the player most exposed when the roster expands in September.
Major League Baseball’s rules allow one position player and one pitcher to be added on September 1, and in New York’s case, the position-player spot is expected to go to Anthony Volpe. Volpe was sent down to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when George Lombard Jr. was promoted to the big leagues, but the bigger issue is what that move does to an already packed infield.
The Yankees could be juggling Ben Rice, Luis Garcia Jr., Paul Goldschmidt, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jose Caballero, Volpe, Lombard, Ryan McMahon, and Rosario. Even with a few of those guys able to move around the diamond, there are still only four infield spots to go around on any given day. And if New York is bringing Volpe back, it’s not to park him on the bench.
That’s where Rosario’s situation gets uncomfortable.
He has had a few moments that mattered. On Friday against the Atlanta Braves, Rosario worked a ninth-inning walk with the Yankees down to their final out, helping set up Ben Rice’s game-tying hit.
Man talk about having a remarkable PA.Amed Rosario is a swing-happy hitter, Atlanta tried to play into that with numerous pitches that he normally offers at, and he just wore Raisel Iglesias out.A gassed Iglesias then had to face Ben Rice, who pelted a hanger off the wall. pic.twitter.com/Fb7EMhG5J5
But the larger body of work hasn’t helped his case. Rosario is hitting .231/.274/.434 with 10 home runs and a 95 wRC+ in 197 plate appearances, and he has only six hits in his last 31 at-bats.
The defense has been rough, too. Across second base, third base, and the corner outfield spots, he has a combined -8 Fielding Run Value, per Baseball Savant.
In 69 games, his season fWAR sits at -0.2.
New York brought Rosario back in the offseason to handle left-handed pitching, but that part of the plan has fallen flat. Against southpaws, he’s batting just .198 with a .625 OPS and a 71 wRC+.
That has left him in an awkward spot: a utility player who isn’t really providing offense and isn’t helping enough with the glove, while teammates around him are offering more specific value.
Most of Rosario’s work has come at third base alongside lefty-swinging Ryan McMahon, but McMahon has been the more useful player despite his own struggles at the plate. The difference is the glove.
McMahon brings value at the hot corner, which matters for a team leaning on pitching. Even with an 84 wRC+, McMahon has 0.9 fWAR this season.
Ryan McMahon wins it for the @Yankees in the 10th! pic.twitter.com/CFcR8iSJQ3
Caballero is another reason Rosario’s leash is so short. Rosario has become, in effect, a less effective version of Caballero. Caballero has had his own issues, but he gives the Yankees better defense and a stolen-base element Rosario doesn’t bring.
With the infield logjam tightening and no obvious edge at the plate or in the field, Rosario is running out of room. If he doesn’t turn things around before September roster expansion, his stint in the Bronx could be coming to an end.
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