PHOENIX – Trent Grisham could be on the Yankees’ playoff roster, but he almost certainly will not play in a regular-season game before then.
The Yankees are not planning to activate Grisham off the injured list during the final week of the regular season, partly because he still has boxes to check off in his return from a hamstring strain and partly because of complications in how they construct their playoff roster.
“I know he’s trending to be close, but the activation might be a little complicated,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday morning at Chase Field.
The issue is that if the Yankees activate Grisham during the regular season, they would either have to option a player to Triple-A or designate someone for assignment to clear a spot on the active roster.
Optioning a player would make them ineligible to be recalled for 10 days (or 15 for a pitcher), meaning the Yankees would not have access to them for the AL wild-card series and potentially the ALDS.
Max Schuemann is expected to be sent back to Triple-A to make room for Jazz Chisholm Jr., who could come off the IL as early as Tuesday, but clearing another spot gets more difficult if everyone stays healthy.
The question then becomes whether the Yankees want to have Grisham on their playoff roster fresh off missing three-plus weeks on the IL, coming back to an uncertain role.
Spencer Jones has taken over center field duties in his absence and hit well (even with some hiccups defensively), especially against left-handers.
With Aaron Judge trending toward missing the wild-card series, Heliot Ramos figures to start in right field against the Red Sox’ left-handers. Could Grisham start in center field against a righty like Sonny Gray, with Jones moving to right field, or be a left-handed pinch-hitting option off the bench?
Before the Yankees have to make that decision, Grisham needs to finish off his running progression to be cleared physically.
“He’s been doing quite a bit,” Boone said. “He’s pretty deep into his running progression, hitting and doing baseball activities. So he’s getting pretty close.”
