Jonathan Loaisiga takes next step towards Yankees return as bullpen struggles continue

Jonathan Loáisiga is one step closer to returning to the Yankees bullpen.

Loáisiga on Saturday began a rehab assignment with Single-A Tampa, throwing a scoreless inning with a strikeout on 10 pitches, as he continues his comeback from UCL surgery last April.

The right-hander is likely to need a good chunk of his 30-day rehab clock to build up properly, but the Yankees are eagerly awaiting his return if he looks like the pitcher he has been when healthy in recent years.

“When Lo’s been healthy and at his best, he’s a weapon,” manager Aaron Boone said earlier this week. “I look at it as getting another high-end, high-leverage, really good pitcher back there. I feel like we have a lot of those guys right now and I expect Lo to join that mix when the time is right.”

Jonathan Loaisiga of the New York Yankees throws a pitch during the sixth inning.

Loáisiga, who re-signed with the Yankees this offseason on a one-year, $5 million contract with a $5 million team option for 2026, has pitched to a 2.89 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 140 ¹/₃ innings over the past four seasons.

It has been a struggle for him to stay healthy, though, as he has dealt with multiple elbow and shoulder injuries during that stretch.

Aside from Devin Williams, the Yankees bullpen has largely pitched well over the first month of the season, posting a 2.63 ERA if you remove Williams’ 11.25 ERA.

Devin Williams reacts after he is pulled from the game in the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on April 25, 2025 in the Bronx borough of New York City.

But for a group that is heavy on changeups and splitters from the right side, Loáisiga would offer a different look as a hard-throwing righty whose sinker sits in the upper 90s.

The pitch averaged 96 mph in his first rehab outing Saturday.

“We don’t really have a harder velo righty with a sinker or [fastball],” pitching coach Matt Blake said this week. “So that matchup with the righty lane would be good. It’s something we kind of had a lot of with a bit. Ian [Hamilton] is a little bit of that guy right now but Lo really owns that role.”

New York Yankees relief pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga throwing before the game on a back field.

Max Fried, who had been scheduled to start Saturday’s game that got postponed, will now start Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader (against Kevin Gausman) before Clarke Schmidt gets the ball for Game 2 (against Chris Bassitt).

Fried is coming off a terrific outing against the Rays last Sunday in Tampa in which he appeared to carry a no-hitter into the eighth inning, only for a scoring change to retroactively charge a hit against him – before he gave up a leadoff single in the eighth.

The left-hander threw 102 pitches in that outing while lowering his ERA to 1.42 through five starts.

New York Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried leaves a game against the Tampa Bay Rays in the eighth inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

“Everything that people have said about him from afar, he’s the real deal,” Aaron Judge said. “To see it up close and see him come out here — especially when you miss a guy like Gerrit Cole, who you can’t replace, you’re able to sub in a Max Fried to go and be that ace for us, it’s been fun to watch.”

Yerry De Los Santos seems like the logical choice to serve as the Yankees’ 27th man for Sunday’s doubleheader.

New York Yankees pitcher Yerry De Los Santos pitches in the fourth inning against the Houston Astros at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.

It likely would have been Brent Headrick, who pitched well with the Yankees to start the season, except the lefty just landed on the injured list at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with an oblique injury, Boone said Saturday.

De Los Santos, who is on the 40-man roster, has given up just one run across 8 ¹/₃ innings this season at Triple-A.

Luis Gil (lat strain), whose shutdown is going on seven-plus weeks, is scheduled to begin a throwing program on Monday, Boone said.

The reigning AL Rookie of the Year was initially expected to start throwing last week, but after an MRI exam, the Yankees decided to err on the side of caution and give him another 10 days of rest.