The Yankees released Underwood from this minor-league contract Tuesday, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports.
The 30-year-old joined the Yankees on a minor-league deal during the offseason but will now hit the open market. Underwood posted a 3.26 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 40:24 K:BB across 38.2 innings with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
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Yankees' Duane Underwood: Sent to minors camp
Rotowire
The Yankees reassigned Underwood to minor-league camp Wednesday.
Underwood, who signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees in December, had been attending camp as a non-roster invitee. The 29-year-old reliever made 20 appearances out of Pittsburgh's bullpen in 2023, ringing up a 5.18 ERA and 1.44 WHIP across 24.1 innings. He's likely to begin the upcoming season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
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Yankees' Duane Underwood: Inks minors deal with Yankees
Rotowire
Underwood signed a minor-league contract with the Yankees on Thursday and received an invitation to major-league spring training, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.
Underwood registered a 5.18 ERA and 1.44 WHIP across 24.1 innings with the Pirates last season before being optioned to Triple-A, where his ERA jumped up to 6.30. He'll likely fill in as organizational bullpen depth with the Yankees and head to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin 2024.
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Duane Underwood: Elects free agency
Rotowire
Underwood elected to become a free agent Wednesday.
Underwood put up a 5.18 ERA and 1.44 WHIP through 24.1 innings with Pittsburgh in 2023, and his numbers in Triple-A weren't much better (6.30 ERA and 1.35 WHIP). The 29-year-old righty will now look to latch on with another organization -- likely on a minor-league deal.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Sent to Indy
Rotowire
Underwood cleared waivers and accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Underwood was designated for assignment last Saturday. The right-hander has produced an inflated 5.18 ERA and 1.44 WHIP with 14 punchouts over 24.1 innings in 20 appearances with the Pirates this season and will look to use his time with Indianapolis to reset after he allowed 10 earned runs over 10.2 innings in May.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Pushed off 40-man roster
Rotowire
Underwood was designated for assignment by the Pirates on Saturday, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.
Underwood will now be subjected to the waiver process. The right-hander has produced a disappointing 5.18 ERA and 1.44 WHIP with 14 strikeouts over 24.1 innings in 20 appearances with the Pirates this season.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Returns with two-inning appearance
Rotowire
Underwood (forearm) struck out two and gave up one run on two hits over two innings of relief in Tuesday's 6-1 loss to the Rangers.
Underwood was diagnosed with right forearm tightness after exiting his most recent appearance Friday against the Diamondbacks, and while that sort of injury is typically a precursor to an extended absence, the 28-year-old apparently required just a few days of rest for the issue to resolve itself. The fact that the Pirates had him cover two innings in a game that they were trailing by four runs suggests that the organization is confident in his health.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Leaves with forearm tightness
Rotowire
Underwood left Friday's game against the Diamondbacks with right forearm tightness, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.
Underwood allowed two earned runs before leaving in the seventh inning while getting just one out. Yohan Ramirez has taken over on the mound for Underwood against the Diamondbacks.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Breezes through save opportunity
Rotowire
Underwood picked up the save Saturday against the Reds. He struck out one over two perfect innings.
Teammate David Bednar was likely unavailable after pitching the previous two days. Underwood has now posted eight scoreless appearances out of 10 total opportunities this season. The right-hander has been effective as both a setup man and backup closer, recording three holds and two saves thus far. The 28-year-old has also commanded the strike zone well, issuing just one free pass over 10.1 innings pitched so far.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Notches first save
Rotowire
Underwood gave up a hit in a scoreless ninth inning Wednesday to record his first save of the season in a 4-1 win over the Red Sox.
The right-hander needed only five pitches to breeze through the frame, erasing a Justin Turner leadoff single with a double play. David Bednar is entrenched as the Pirates' closer and already has three saves this season, but two of then had come in the last two days. It looks like Underwood will be the next man up for now any time Bednar is unavailable, which could give him some deep-league fantasy appeal for GMs speculating on a potential Bednar trade.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Avoids arbitration
Rotowire
Underwood signed a one-year, $1.025 million contract with the Pirates on Friday, avoiding arbitration, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.
In his second season with the Pirates, Underwood reached the double-digit hold mark for the first time in his career and recorded his first career save as well. If the 28-year old can continue to strike batters out at an acceptable rate (8.95 K/9 in 2022) and give up fewer long balls, there's a good chance the Pirates let him pitch more often in high-leverage situations in 2023.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Collects first career save
Rotowire
Underwood walked one in a scoreless ninth inning during the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader to record his first save of the season in a 1-0 win over the Reds.
The 28-year-old righty came into the season with zero career saves over 114 appearances in the majors, but Underwood got the call in Tuesday's nightcap as the Pirates continue to mix and match in high-leverage spots. With David Bednar (back) closing in on his return, however, Underwood likely won't get another save chance. His 4.41 ERA, 1.47 WHIP and 43:22 K:BB through 49 innings on the year don't make a strong case for one, either.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Hit with loss as opener
Rotowire
Underwood (1-6) took the loss in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Mets, giving up one run on two hits in one inning. He struck out one.
Working as the opener ahead of Bryse Wilson, Underwood wound up with the decision as the Pirates never tied things up and eventually lost 5-1. The right-hander has been tagged for runs in four straight appearances, and since the beginning of August he carries a 5.82 ERA, 1.65 WHIP and poor 11:8 K:BB through 17 innings.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Tabbed to start Wednesday
Rotowire
Underwood will start Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Mets, Chris Halicke of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.
Underwood hasn't made a start since he covered four frames in his big-league debut in 2018, but he'll open Game 1 of Wednesday's twin bill. The right-hander has recorded more than six outs only twice this season and is unlikely to pitch deeper than an inning or two before giving way to the bullpen.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Cleared for return
Rotowire
The Pirates reinstated Underwood (illness) from the COVID-19-related injured list Sunday, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.
Underwood will be available out of the Pittsburgh bullpen for Sunday's series finale with Milwaukee after he was able to regain his conditioning following a two-appearance rehab assignment at Double-A Altoona. Before testing positive for COVID-19 on June 13 and landing on the IL, Underwood gathered three holds and posted a 4.24 ERA and 1.29 WHIP across 17 innings out of the big-league bullpen.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Ready for rehab assignment
Rotowire
Underwood (illness) will report to Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday to begin a rehab assignment, Alex Stumpf of DKPittsburghSports.com reports.
Underwood has been on the COVID-19-related injured list since testing positive for the virus June 13 and may require multiple rehab appearances before the Pirates activate him. Prior to landing on the IL, the reliever turned in a 4.24 ERA and 1.29 WHIP across 17 innings out of the bullpen.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Heads to COVID-19 IL
Rotowire
Underwood was placed on the COVID-19 injured list Monday.
Underwood is coming off a rough outing Saturday against the Braves, surrendering three runs on two hits and a walk while fanning two over 1.1 innings. Jason Delay had his contract selected from the taxi squad in a corresponding move.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Mixed results in return
Rotowire
Underwood allowed two earned runs on four hits and struck out four across two innings Thursday against the Reds.
Underwood made his return from a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since Opening Day and handled the eighth and ninth innings with the Pirates facing a deficit. He allowed two runs in his first frame of work, allowing two singles and a double. However, he punched out three of the last five batters he faced to end his outing positively. Underwood may not immediately factor into high-leverage scenarios, but he should be a candidate to pick up holds later in the season.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Returns from injured list
Rotowire
Underwood (hamstring) was activated from the 10-day injured list Thursday.
Underwood has been sidelined since experiencing hamstring discomfort in the season opener, but he'll rejoin the active roster ahead of Thursday's matchup with the Reds. He had a 4.33 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 65:27 K:BB across 72.2 innings for the Buccos last year.
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Pirates' Duane Underwood: Appears with Altoona
Rotowire
Underwood (hamstring) allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two across a scoreless inning during a rehab appearance with Double-A Altoona on Tuesday.
Underwood also threw two scoreless innings with Triple-A Indianapolis on May 7, but his rehab assignment was transferred to Altoona given the geographic proximity to Pittsburgh. In total, he's thrown 4.2 innings while working back from the hamstring issue and will likely be activated from the injured list in the coming days. Underwood figures to occupy a high-leverage role in the Pirates' bullpen, but he won't be in the mix for saves without a number of injuries ahead of him.
