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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Yanks Recall Preston Claiborne From Single-A Tampa

My prayers have been answered! With the Single-A Florida State League season officially over, Preston Claiborne is back in the Bronx to rejoin the New York Yankees bullpen.

Claiborne was sent down by the Yankees on August 26th to make some room for fresh arms in the bullpen, solely because September 1st was only a few days away, and the Yanks would be able to call him back up once rosters expanded.

In his rookie season, Claiborne has appeared in 37 games for the Yankees since being called-up in late April. He's been one of the best pitchers in the bullpen, posting a 2.78 ERA with a 36/11 strikeout to walk ratio.

Yesterday, the Yankees made five initial September call-ups, including three pitchers -- Dellin Betances, Brett Marshall and Cesar Cabral. The Yankees active roster now stands at 30 players.

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Yankees Make September Call-Ups

For starters, Happy September! Second, as many of you already know, September 1st mean that all Major League roster can expand from the normal 25-man, to fully equiped 40-man rosters.

As the final month of the season, the expanded rosters can really come in handy to teams wanting to add depth as the playoff run winds down. And for teams not in playoff contention, it's a great opportunity to teams to get a look at some of their young prospects.

With the countless amount of injuries that the New York Yankees have suffered this season, some of their possible call-ups are already here, but the chance to add more depth on the bench and in the bullpen is something that Yankees manager Joe Girardi can't afford to pass up.

Here is the current list of people with the Yankees to begin the day (Note: This will be updated as more call-ups are made):

* IF David Adams

* RHP Brett Marshall

* RHP Dellin Betances

* LHP Cesar Cabral

* C JR Murphy

For now, these are the only five Yankees that have gotten the call into action for the Bombers. But it's still likely we'll see quite a few more faces as the weeks go by. Remember, David Phelps and Michael Pineda are currently dealing with injuries, and if they manage to get healthy soon, we'll certainly see them back in pinstripes.

Other Call-Up Notes:

* Preston Claiborne will also be rejoining the Yankees, but he can't do so until after the Single-A Tampa Yankees finish up their Florida State League season today, so he'll likely be with the Yankees tomorrow.

* Melky Mesa is another player that was expected to be called up by the Yankees, but he's currently dealing with hamstring issues, thus the Yanks were forced to designate him for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man roster.

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