HOUSTON, TX — The home stretch of the baseball season means a lot of things, and one of them is the expansion of the 26-man roster to 28 players.

This season, with the Yankees very much in a pennant race and trying to fight for their division, the Yankees made the move to activate LHP Ryan Yarbrough off the 60-day IL and recall C J.C. Escarra from AAA Scranton.

Yarbrough was essential to the team’s success in the first half, stepping up big time to fill a rotation spot when injury and underperformance were occurring in early May. With the rotation, Yarbrough pitched to the tune of a 3-1 record and a 3.81 ERA across 8 starts and 40.0 innings of work. Yarbrough was placed on the injured list on June 22nd with a right oblique strain, and after a long rehab, is ready to return. Manager Aaron Boone told the media that Yarbrough will pitch out of the bullpen down the stretch, used as a lefty specialist and a secret weapon out of the ‘pen.

J.C. Escarra has been up-and-down a few times this season as the backup catcher to both Austin Wells and now Ben Rice who is getting some time behind the plate. Escarra is an elite framer and there is some tallent with the bat, but he has not been able to show that yet, due to limited and inconsistent playing time. While not confirmed, Escarra might not be on the roster for a long time with Austin Slater rehabing in AAA from a left hamstring injury. With Escarra on the roster, he provides the Yankees with a third option at catcher who could give Rice or Wells a break late in the game of a blowout.