The Yankees will gladly take all the help they can get.
For now, that means adding catcher Chad Moeller and lefty reliever Phil Coke to the mix, as rosters today can expand to 40 players.
Moeller and Coke will join the team in Detroit, where the Yankees today have a makeup game from a May 11 postponement.
Joe Girardi said it’s possible additional players will join the Yankees during their 10-game road trip. Most notably, Melky Cabrera (he was hitting .360 at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre entering yesterday) is expected to return.
Moeller spent much of the season with the Yanks, but became expendable when Ivan Rodriguez was acquired from the Tigers at the trading deadline.
Girardi said Joba Chamberlain will be activated from the disabled list before tomorrow’s game at Tampa Bay and be available in the bullpen.
The right-hander reported no setbacks yesterday after throwing 35 pitches from the mound on Saturday. It’s expected that Chamberlain will be Girardi’s main eighth-inning option, setting up Mariano Rivera, but the manager refused to say for sure.
Alfredo Aceves made his major league debut yesterday, working two innings of scoreless relief for the Yankees in their 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays.
Aceves, who struck out three of the six batters he faced, wears uniform No. 91, the second highest uniform number ever worn by a Yankee (Charlie Keller wore No. 99 in 1952).
Robinson Cano finally spoke to reporters, a day after his seventh-inning throwing error helped the Jays launch a comeback in their 7-6 victory over the Yankees on Saturday.
Cano attempted to make a back-handed flip to second base to start a double play, but the throw was short. Cano denied that he was showboating.
“That’s the way I play,” Cano said. “I made [an earlier] play and nobody said anything. I would like to be perfect and be the best guy out there. That’s the same way I played in the minor leagues.”