The Yankees’ offense has been seemingly playing through a fog for the past month, with minimal support for superstars Juan Soto and Aaron Judge outside of a few good games from lesser-known contributors like Ben Rice, Austin Wells, and Trent Grisham. Now, even Judge is slumping while teammates Alex Verdugo, Anthony Volpe, Gleyber Torres, and DJ LeMahieu continue to scuffle. The pitching has been notoriously spotty too during this 7-18 stretch, but it’s hard to win ballgames when you’re stranding runners left and right.

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So naturally, some Yankees fans have turned toward Triple-A Scranton, wondering if another minor leaguer like Rice could come up and provide a jolt of sorts. Oswald Peraza has yet to really get going in 2024, and all of Jasson Domínguez, Everson Pereira, and Caleb Durbin are hurt. Thus, the primary prospects getting attention are Agustin Ramirez and Jorbit Vivas.

The Yankees have had an opening pop up on their 26-man roster, with June trade acquisition J.D. Davis landing on the IL with an apparently-awful stomach flu (sure, why not). According to SNY reporter Andy Martino, Vivas will be promoted from Scranton to take Davis’ spot.

The Yankees are calling up infield prospect Jorbit Vivas, per sources. J.D. Davis will go to the IL.

— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) July 12, 2024

The 23-year-old Vivas is still relatively new to the Yankees’ organization, as he came over to New York alongside reliever Victor González in the offseason trade with the Dodgers for 2021 first-rounder Trey Sweeney. Since González got himself DFA’d and demoted from the Yankees’ bullpen, it has essentially become a prospect-for-prospect swap. (Sweeney currently has an 81 wRC+ in 85 games with Oklahoma City in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.)

Vivas missed the majority of the first six weeks of Scranton’s season due to injury, primarily from an end-of-spring plunking that led to an orbital fracture. He tuned up on a rehab assignment down in A-ball, and as the New York offense has sagged, Vivas has turned it on at Triple-A. Over his last 25 games, the lefty hitter is batting .299/.460/.529 with five doubles, five homers, and a 162 wRC+, stealing eight bases as well. Minor-league coaches have praised Vivas’ “elite” contact tool and strike-zone discipline. For a more extensive write-up on Vivas, check out Smith’s entry for him on the midseason Yankees top prospects list.

Vivas has been used at both second and third, so he offers a more interesting alternative to LeMahieu and Torres than Oswaldo Cabrera or Jahmai Jones. The hot bat and slight versatility are probably why he got the call over Ramirez, who hasn’t spent much time in Triple-A yet and has a similar defensive skillset to Rice anyway (catcher/first base). I’d encourage the Yankees to not mess around and simply play Vivas—at least over the aging and banged-up LeMahieu. There are not many answers coming from the offense at the moment. It’d be nice if the Yankees didn’t have to keep trying new blood to revive the lineup, but that’s where we are.

Update

Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees made the following roster moves:
•Recalled INF Jorbit Vivas (#90) from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
•Placed INF J.D. Davis on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to 7/9) with the stomach flu.

— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) July 12, 2024

The move is now official.

Update 2

Vivas has been used at both second and third, so he offers a more interesting alternative to LeMahieu and Torres than Oswaldo Cabrera or Jahmai Jones … I’d encourage the Yankees to not mess around and simply play Vivas—at least over the aging and banged-up LeMahieu.

lol Mearns, you dunce.