Morales placed on Injured List; Cortes Jr., Tauchman recalled

The Yankees have placed 1B/DH Kendrys Morales on the 10-day Injured List, and they've recalled LHP Nestor Cortes Jr. and OF Mike Tauchman from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

https://twitter.com/YankeesPR/status/1139222947414052867

Morales was acquired by the team on May 14, and he made his debut the next day against Baltimore. In 19 games, seven at first base and the rest at designated hitter or as a pinch hitter, he produced a .194/.313/.253 slash line with one home run and five RBI. If that wasn't bad enough, Morales had a 63 wRC+ and was worth -0.3 fWAR in his short stint in the Bronx.

To replace him in the lineup, the Yankees recalled Tauchman, who has had an up-and-down start to his MLB career. After two rough seasons with the Rockies, he played 34 games with the Yankees in April and May this season, dominating the Red Sox but struggling overall at the plate to the tune of a .211/.306/.411 slash line. He'll be the fifth outfielder on the roster, so playing time may be scarce.

Coming up with Tauchman will be Cortes Jr., who is coming up for the fifth time this season. With Chance Adams and Stephen Tarpley being demoted yesterday, a spot in the bullpen opened up. His pitching duties have been rather brief, throwing just 14.0 innings across five appearances. So far, he has a 3.86 ERA with a 3.93 FIP and a 3.81 SIERA, which shows his baseline numbers aren't in line for any real regression.