Former Guardians reliever given golden opportunity to become Yankees postseason hero

On Oct. 10, 2022, Eli Morgan recorded his first postseason win by pitching a scoreless ninth inning against the Yankees in the American League Division Series. 

Although he entered the game with the Guardians trailing by two runs, he was able to stop the bleeding and help set up Oscar Gonzalez’s walk-off hit.  

Now he’s joining the other side of the aisle thanks to a minor league contract with the Yankees that could set him up to be a key contributor for them in the postseason. 

Eli Morgan could get some big outs for the Yankees in the postseason

We understand if that sentence gives you a bit of pause considering Morgan had a 5.12 ERA with the Royals and a 7.09 ERA in 26 2/3 innings since leaving Cleveland. But New York may be the perfect landing spot for him given their pitching acumen and bullpen problems. 

While the Yankees are locks to make the postseason (likely as the top American League Wild Card team), they have some clear openings in their bullpen and pitching staff. 

Their top four relievers have been set pretty much all season (David Bednar, Paul Blackburn, Brent Headrick, Tim Hill and Fernando Cruz), but the spots behind them are pretty malleable.

Right now those spots are filled by Yerry de los Santos and Bradley Hanner, but neither of them have a tight grip on their roster spot. 

De los Santos has allowed just one earned run in 14 innings, but he has an expected ERA of 3.57 and is averaging less than a strikeout per inning. Hanner’s pitched in just one game since getting called up. 

Morgan may not be a big name, but he’s had stints in MLB where he’s been better than both of those pitchers. 

His best statistical season may be 2024 (1.93 ERA in 42 innings), but he was also a valuable everyday relief option in 2022 before pitching in a variety of roles in the postseason. 

Ironically, almost all of his postseason experience has come against the Yankees, and he held them in check at every opportunity. 

The biggest question mark surrounding Morgan is whether his arm can hold up after his 2025 season came to an end with right elbow impingement that had initially popped up during his final campaign with the Guardians. 

That injury has hampered his big league ability, but he did have a 1.40 ERA in 25 2/3 innings with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate before they designated him for assignment, so there’s still some juice left in his arm. 

The Yankees may have signed Morgan as a depth arm, but he may end up turning into a valuable postseason arm for them whether they like it or not.

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