Zelous Wheeler called up, Yangervis Solarte optioned; Dean Anna designated for assignment

Confirming reports from Wednesday night, the Yankees announced on Thursday that infielder Zelous Wheeler has been called up for Triple-A Scranton, earning the first promotion of his professional career. On the short end of things, the struggling Yangervis Solarte was optioned to Triple-A, and Dean Anna was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
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If there was anybody that I did not see as a call-up option this season, it would have been Wheeler, who really worked hard this season to get into this position.

Wheeler is batting .300/.368/.469 with seven homeruns and 31 RBIs in 65 games with the Triple-A team this season, spending most of his time at third base, with shortstop and right field mixed in. So he's a versatile option for Joe Girardi's bench.

Solarte is in a is in a 3-for-41 (.073) slide after going 0-for-4 on Wednesday. On a larger scale, he's been batting .187/.270/.268 since mid-May. As much as you wanted to believe otherwise, Solarte was a career minor leaguer that didn't last very long. Not only his bat, but his defense at third base has taken a hit, too.

Anna, meanwhile, was traded to the Yankees during the winter, and played well enough in the spring to earn a spot on the Yankees' Opening Day roster. He was optioned down to Triple-A near the end of April after batting .162 in 12 games for the Yankees. Things weren't much better in Scranton -- he spent some time on the DL, hitting .196 down there. He was a nice guy, a good fielder, but couldn't live up the batting potential with the Yankees.

The Bombers are in Minnesota today to open up a four-game series with the Twins.

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