...
By Jackson Roberts
Contributing Sports Writer
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
A lot of roster decisions have to be made in the final few weeks of spring training, and the New York Yankees made one on Thursday.
Of all the players on the 40-man roster, plus a sizable group of non-roster invitees, the Yankees have to whittle themselves down to 26 players by opening day on March 25. On Thursday, they removed their first member of the 40-man from consideration for that group that will take on the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.
According to the official transactions log and a club announcement on social media, 24-year-old right-hander Chase Hampton was optioned to Double-A Somerset and reassigned to minor-league camp.
Read More on MLB
...
Hampton, who was added to the 40-man roster in November to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, has had a frustrating last couple of seasons. He gained a ton of prospect clout in 2023 when he struck out 145 batters in just 106 2/3 innings of work, but he's only been able to appear in seven games in the two years since.
It was virtually impossible for Hampton to crack the opening day roster, given the fact that he missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery and is not expected to return to games until May or June. But using up one of his three options shows how far he has to go, and the time frame in which he has to make up ground.
Hampton can be freely optioned back and forth between the majors and minors for the next three seasons now, but he'll have to prove he can stay healthy and conquer both Double-A and Triple-A competition before New York trusts him with a spot on its pitching staff.
The hard-throwing righty has been built up as a starter to this point in his career, but it's always possible he could be converted to a reliever as time moves along.
More MLB: Bad Bunny’s Reaction to Shohei Ohtani’s Near Miss Goes Viral
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines