NEW YORK — The Mets stole a good talent from the Yankees. They picked up Stephen Ridings, an up-and-coming right-handed pitching prospect, who was put on waiver on Tuesday.
Ridings was taken off the Yankees’ 40-man roster because he was often rested for being hurt during his last season and also had a hard throw. This was likely carried out to make room for other players before the Rule 5 Draft protection deadline expires.
The Yankees have until Tuesday to finalize their roster in order to protect Rule 5-eligible prospects from the draft, which will take place on December 7 during the Winter Meetings in San Diego. They opted to protect Randy Vasquez.
Ridings didn’t pitch much in 2022 because he spent most of the season on the injured list with a sore right shoulder. He also had other injuries. He played in the minor leagues twice.
He made his major league debut for the Yankees in August 2021. In his first five games, he struck out seven batters and had an earned run average (ERA) of 1.80. In September, Ridings disclosed having trouble with nerves in his neck.
“I’m not even sure how to describe it honestly,” the pitcher told, “I guess the way you would treat it is similar to Thoracic outlet (syndrome). I don’t necessarily have it, but they found some of the nerves that run through a couple of muscles in my neck aren’t in the right spot. And that could be what’s giving me some of the issues. They treated it with some injections and it’s been great since.”
The Yankees have added three pitchers to their 40-man roster: Johny Brito, Matt Krook, and Jimmy Cordero. They also gave qualifying offers to Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo and used the $15 million team option on Luis Severino for 2023.
Will Ridings be an asset for the Mets?
