TAMPA, Fla. — The Yankees came into spring training with a pretty clear picture of their bullpen. David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn were considered locks. That left roughly two spots open for a crowd of hungry arms to fight over.
Manager Aaron Boone and the Yankees front office expected that group to sort itself out over the course of Grapefruit League play. It has. Just not the way most people predicted.
Jake Bird, acquired from Colorado at last year’s trade deadline, entered camp as a frontrunner. Angel Chivilli, a hard-throwing lefty, had buzz behind him. Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest, plucked from the St. Louis Cardinals in December, carried the intrigue of a wild card who had to stick on the 26-man roster or be returned.
Brent Headrick, who posted a 3.13 ERA and 32.6% strikeout rate in 17 appearances for the Yankees last season, emerged as the other top candidate. Boone has spoken glowingly about the 6-foot-6 lefty throughout camp. Headrick has nine strikeouts with no walks in 4.2 innings this spring, and recent reports suggest the Yankees view him as a near-lock for one of the final spots.
That seemed to settle one half of the equation. But the other half has taken an unexpected turn.
An unlikely contender steps forward
Every spring, it seems, the Yankees find a reliever nobody saw coming. Lucas Luetge did it in 2021. Ron Marinaccio broke through in 2022. Ian Hamilton surprised in 2023, followed by Nick Burdi in 2024 and Headrick himself last year. It has become a Yankees spring training tradition.
This time, the name is Kervin Castro.
The 27-year-old Venezuelan right-hander has been nearly untouchable in six Grapefruit League outings. He owns a 0.00 ERA across 8.1 innings, allowing just three hits while striking out five and walking two. In Saturday’s 6-4 loss to the Phillies, he allowed one unearned run over 1.1 innings and generated weak contact throughout.
“Kervin’s got my attention,” Boone said.
The sturdy 6-foot, 185-pound reliever works with a fastball, sinker and cutter that sit between 92 and 94 mph, plus a sweeper in the mid-80s. He entered Saturday’s game with two outs and nobody on in the seventh and struck out Christian Cairo on a 1-2 sweeper. In the eighth, a throwing error by third baseman Roderick Arias and a single put two runners on with nobody out. Castro got two fielder’s choice groundballs and a flyball to escape with minimal damage.
“I feel like he’s had a really good camp,” Boone said. “I thought he threw the ball well (Saturday) getting the kind of weak contact you want.”
A long road back to the big leagues
Castro is no stranger to the majors. He debuted for the San Francisco Giants in 2021 and was dominant, working 13.1 scoreless innings across 10 outings. The following year was a different story. He pitched for both the Cubs and Giants and was roughed up for 14 runs in 12.1 innings on 15 hits and seven walks.
His elbow gave out early in 2023 while he was in the Detroit Tigers organization. It was his second Tommy John surgery. He was released in August 2023 during his rehab, signed a minor-league deal with Houston that November, and then became Yankees property a month later through the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft.
Castro spent the entire 2024 season rehabbing as a Yankees minor leaguer. When he returned in 2025, he pitched to a 1.53 ERA in 35 outings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. A six-week stint on the injured list from May 20 to July 6 was the only thing that kept him from a potential call-up to the Bronx.
“He kind of put himself on the map last year in Triple-A,” Boone said. “There were even a couple times where he was in play as a call-up on some on some different occasions.”
The Yankees liked what they saw enough to add Castro to their 40-man roster last November. Now he is making his case for something bigger.
The roster math that could hold him back
Here is where the roster math works against Castro. He still has a minor-league option remaining. That means the Yankees can send him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and bring him back at any point during the season without risk.
The same cannot be said for two of his competitors. Osvaldo Bido, a February waiver claim from the Los Angeles Angels, has allowed just one run in four innings across four Grapefruit League outings. He brings 58 games of major-league experience over the last three seasons and cannot be optioned. If the Yankees do not keep him on the roster, they risk losing him on waivers.
Winquest is in the same boat. The Rule 5 pick has never pitched above Double-A, and his spring numbers have been rough with a 5.68 ERA across six outings. But the Yankees must keep him on the 26-man roster all season or offer him back to St. Louis. That structural reality gives both Bido and Winquest an edge that pure performance cannot override.
Yerry De Los Santos has also been sharp this spring, allowing no runs in 4.2 innings over four games. Like Castro, though, he has options and can be sent to the minors without consequence.
Bird, once a favorite, has posted a 4.50 ERA with three walks in six innings across six spring outings. His command has been inconsistent. He can also be optioned.
Chivilli has been hit the hardest, carrying a 14.29 ERA in Grapefruit League play. His chances appear all but gone.
“Frankly, we’ve had some mixed results for those guys in the mix for those last two spots, so we need to see that play out a little bit,” Boone said.
What it all means for Opening Day
Castro has the best numbers of anyone fighting for a Yankees bullpen spot. It is not close. But the Yankees have to weigh performance against roster protection. Keeping Bido or Winquest means they do not lose an asset for nothing. Sending Castro to Scranton means they still have him in their back pocket when they need a fresh arm.
“The two-seam, four-seam and cutter are in a good place right now,” Boone said of Castro. “He’s done a good job.”
With Headrick trending strongly toward one of the final two Yankees bullpen spots, the real drama now centers on who gets the last chair. Castro has earned it on the mound. Whether the Yankees reward that or play the roster chess game that favors players they cannot afford to lose will be one of the final decisions of spring.
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