Yankees recall Oswaldo Cabrera, place Ryan McMahon on injured list

The Yankees turned to Oswaldo Cabrera on Tuesday, recalling him from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and placing Ryan McMahon on the 10-day injured list with a throat infection before facing the Tigers in Detroit. The move shifted the infield picture at once: Cabrera became the likeliest answer at third base, and his ability to cover multiple spots gave Aaron Boone a cleaner short-term replacement than a single-position call-up.

McMahon’s exit came after he last played June 21 and was scratched from the lineup June 23 because of illness. New York made the move retroactive to June 22, cutting into the club’s everyday alignment at third base. McMahon had hit .210 with 8 home runs and 23 RBI in 69 games, and five of those homers either tied the game or gave the Yankees the lead, production that made the injury list more than a routine depth shuffle.

Cabrera’s return carried its own weight. The 27-year-old had not been back in the majors since the left ankle fracture and ligament damage he suffered May 12, 2025, in Seattle, when he was taken off the field in an ambulance and the injury was widely treated as season-ending. He spent the first part of this season at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, where he hit 7 home runs, drove in 33 runs and stole 6 bases in 256 at-bats, with a strong June stretch that showed his swing was coming back as the calendar moved into summer.

That Triple-A run matters because Cabrera is not being asked to be a one-dimensional stopgap. He made his MLB debut on August 17, 2022, and the Yankees have long valued him as a super-utility option, the kind of player who can keep the lineup moving when an injury hits and the bench has to stretch. With McMahon sidelined, Cabrera’s path is straightforward: take the hot corner work, steady the defense, and force the Yankees to decide whether this is just a bridge until McMahon returns or a longer look for a player who used Scranton to play his way back into the picture.