With the New York Yankees deciding to reinforce its bullpen, Darrell Rasner was the odd man out.
New York decided to add another relief pitcher in Colter Bean and with Rasner, a 1999 Carson High graduate unavailable to pitch this weekend against the Boston Red Sox, he was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday.
Another reason why the Yankees optioned Rasner was Chien-Ming Wang being on the verge of coming off the disabled list. Wang is scheduled to start on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, thus taking Rasner's turn in the rotation.
The Yankees are scheduled to start two rookies this weekend against the Red Sox. Jeff Karstens is scheduled to come off the disabled list to start today and Chase Wright is scheduled to start on Sunday.
Rasner, who started on Thursday against the Cleveland Indians, said he was suprised by the move, but took it in stride.
"It caught me off guard," Rasner told MLB.com. "I wasn't expecting to come in here today and have that happen, but I'm not the one who makes decisions. I've got to respect what the front office says."
Yankees manager Joe Torre said that Rasner "didn't do anything wrong" in his three starts for New York, in which he went 0-1 with a 3.86 earned run average.
Rasner said that the Yankees had told him to make use of his time at Triple-A by learning to trust his breaking ball more and attempting not to be so "fine," but he still felt as though he'd left a good impression with the Yankees for his next callup.
"I hope they can feel they trust me and have some faith in me, and that I can get the job done," Rasner said. "We'll see."
Sunday's probable starter, left-hander Chase Wright, is the other rookie tabbed for New York this weekend.