Ryan Yarbrough: Everything you need to know

Yarbrough allowed two hits and struck out two batters over three scoreless innings in a Grapefruit League game against Detroit on Sunday. Yarbrough made his second appearance of the spring for the Yankees, and this was his first outing with New York since returning from a stint with Team USA at the World Baseball Classic. The lefty made just one appearance during the tournament, allowing two runs over 2.1 innings against Team Italy. Yarbrough figures to open the regular season in long relief for the Yankees, and he's an option to make spot starts if any of the team's starters are sidelined, especially early in the campaign while Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon work on rehabbing their elbow injuries.

The Yankees re-signed Yarbrough to a one-year contract Monday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Per Buster Olney of ESPN, the deal is worth $2.5 million. Yarbrough made eight starts and 11 relief appearances for the Yankees in 2025, finishing with a 4.36 ERA and 55:19 K:BB over 64 regular-season innings. With the Yankees having several pitchers expected to begin the season on the injured list, the southpaw's versatility could come in handy.

Yarbrough earned the save in Thursday's 9-3 win over the Tigers, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out two across 3.0 innings. Cam Schlittler limited the Tigers to one run over the first six innings, and Yarbrough took care of the rest across the final three frames of Thursday's win. With Yarbrough being used in long relief to close out Thursday's game, the Yankees will have a fresh set of arms out of the bullpen for Friday's series opener against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Yarbrough has a 3.82 ERA and 1.15 WHIP across 63.2 innings this season.