The Yankees designated right-hander Justin Topa for assignment Saturday, four days after calling him up, to clear an active roster spot for Max Fried’s return from the injured list.
The move came before Game 2 of a day-night doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, after New York dropped the opener 6-0. Jake Bennett threw six scoreless innings for Boston in that afternoon game and Carlos Rodon took the loss.
Topa, 35, had been on the major league roster only since Tuesday. The Yankees selected his contract from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 25 and transferred Giancarlo Stanton to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot.
He signed a minor league deal with New York on Aug. 14 after bouncing through the Minnesota, Toronto and Kansas City systems earlier this year. The Binghamton native needed only 11 days in the organization before getting the call.
Topa worked two games for the Yankees. He debuted Thursday against Houston, throwing two innings and allowing one unearned run on two hits with two strikeouts and a walk. In the first game Saturday against Boston, he pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.
Combined, that was three innings, four hits, one unearned run, one walk and three strikeouts. It was a quiet, useful sample. It was not enough to keep him on the roster once Fried was ready.
With Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Topa made four appearances and posted a 1.80 ERA over five innings. He allowed two runs, one earned, and struck out two. That stretch followed a 0.71 ERA in 12 2/3 innings at Triple-A Omaha after Kansas City signed him in July.
The Twins had released him in May. In 23 games for Minnesota this season he went 0-1 with an 8.05 ERA, 14 strikeouts and 11 walks in 19 innings. He allowed 27 hits and four home runs. Last year with the same club he had a 3.90 ERA over 60 innings in 54 games.
Manager Aaron Boone explained the original signing last week.
“We signed him and [right-handed reliever] Eli Morgan this past week, trying to create some depth down there,” Boone said. “Obviously, he’s had some success at the big league level. Right now, he covers us and he’ll get a little bit of a look right now.”
Topa is a 17th-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2013 out of Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus. He debuted with Milwaukee in 2020, spent parts of three seasons there, then had his best year with Seattle in 2023, posting a 2.61 ERA in 75 games. The Mariners later sent him to Minnesota in the Jorge Polanco trade.
His career line entering Saturday was a 4.22 ERA, 19.2 percent strikeout rate, 7.1 percent walk rate and a 52.8 percent ground-ball rate in 170 2/3 major league innings. The sinker that once sat closer to 95 mph has been around 93.4 this season.
Fried went on the 15-day injured list Aug. 17 with a bone bruise in his left elbow. He missed the minimum and did not make a rehab start, instead throwing four simulated innings in a live batting-practice session. The Yankees planned to start him in the nightcap.
Because Topa has more than five years of service time, he cannot be optioned. Designating him for assignment starts a 48-hour waiver period. Another club can claim him. If he clears, New York could re-sign him to a minor league deal, or he could become a free agent again.
The same announcement noted that Clarke Schmidt and Ryan McMahon began rehab assignments at Double-A Somerset. Brendan Beck had been the 27th man for the first game of the doubleheader. New York also finished the night with two open spots on the 40-man roster.
The Yankees later won the nightcap 9-2 and split the doubleheader. Ben Rice drove in three runs. That result left New York three games ahead of Boston for the American League’s top wild-card spot and evened the season series at six games apiece heading into Sunday’s finale.
For Topa, the stay in pinstripes was short even by late-August bullpen standards. He gave the Yankees a few quiet innings, then made way for a starter they needed back.
Other teams now get a look at a veteran sinkerballer who still misses barrels when the pitch is down.
