The Yankees officially announced they have promoted left-handed pitchers Justus Sheffield and Domingo German. Clint Frazier was also transferred to the 60-day DL.

Sheffield last pitched on Sept. 2, when he tossed 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. The Yankees moved Sheffield to the bullpen at the tail end of the minor league season and he made four consecutive relief appearances. He also appeared in relief on June 27, pitching six innings.

German made his big league debut in April and has pitched in 19 games this season for New York. He last pitched for the Yankees on July 20 before he was sidelined by an elbow injury. German's last two appearances were a pair of three-inning rehab starts with Single-A Tampa in late August.

Sheffield appeared in 25 games, including 20 starts, between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season. He posted a 2.25 ERA at the Double-A level and 2.56 in Triple-A, where he spent the bulk of his season.

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Talk of Sheffield's potential promotion began in July and the fact that it took this long is either related to the Yankees' belief that the young lefty was not effective enough to be a factor for the big league club or they mismanaged the chances to determine his potential impact.

There appeared to be numerous opportunities for the Yankees to provide Sheffield a chance to work in the rotation before the trade deadline in an effort to determine if he could be an answer instead of Lance Lynn.

The Yanks understandably chose a veteran for the fifth starter slot, but then Sheffield's shift to the bullpen was somewhat strange because of the lateness in timing. If the Yankees had any true inclination that Sheffield would make an impact as a reliever, they should have been testing that earlier in the season so that he could make big league appearances in August, not late September.

So, with 13 games left on the schedule, Sheffield's call-up looks more like a cup of coffee than providing the lefty a realistic chance to contribute impactful innings.

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