The New York Yankees optioned right-handed pitcher Trent Sellers to Double-A Somerset on Friday, a quiet roster move that landed just hours before they opened a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
Sellers, 26, had been with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for only four days. The RailRiders used him once. He lasted an inning, gave up four hits and a walk, and was charged with three runs.
The Yankees listed the assignment on the minor league transactions page Friday morning. No additional comment came from the big-league club.
The first pitch against Boston is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. EDT. The Yankees hold the top American League wild-card spot. The Red Sox sit two games behind them in the second wild-card position.
A sweep this weekend would let Boston jump New York in the wild-card standings. If the two clubs finish 1-2 in those spots, the higher seed would host the best-of-three wild-card series.
New York also sits four games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. That gap has not closed much in recent weeks.
The Yankees just finished a 2-1 home series loss to the Houston Astros. Houston took the opener and the finale. New York won the middle game.
Sellers signed with the Yankees as an undrafted free agent on July 31, 2024, after his final college season at Oregon State. He moved quickly through the system that first summer.In 2024 he posted a 2.09 ERA and 0.96 WHIP at High-A, striking out 98 batters in 82 innings. He also made one brief appearance at Triple-A that year.
He spent all of 2025 at Double-A. There he went 22 starts, worked 96 1/3 innings, and finished with a 3.92 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 111 strikeouts.
This season the numbers have slipped. Across 25 appearances, 11 of them starts, Sellers has a 4.61 ERA and 1.65 WHIP in 70 1/3 innings. He has 90 strikeouts.
The Yankees have used the Double-A and Triple-A shuttle more than usual this month as they try to keep fresh arms available. Sellers’ latest trip down the ladder is the latest example.
Somerset is in the middle of its own playoff push in the Eastern League. Sellers will report there and wait for another chance to move up.
Friday’s series against the Red Sox carries extra weight because both clubs are fighting for October positioning. New York wants to protect the top wild-card seed. Boston wants to steal it.
Crowds at Yankee Stadium tend to grow louder when the Red Sox are in town. The Yankees will try to use that energy after dropping two of three to Houston.
Sellers’ demotion will not change the starting rotation or the bullpen for Friday’s game. It simply returns a 26-year-old pitcher to the level where he has spent most of the last two seasons.
The organization still views him as a depth piece. How quickly he returns to Triple-A will depend on how he pitches in Somerset and what injuries or performance issues arise in the majors.
For now the focus stays on the field at Yankee Stadium, where the Yankees and Red Sox begin another chapter of their long rivalry with playoff implications attached.
