The Yankees released right-hander , whod been pitching for their Triple-A affiliate after signing a minor league deal in the offseason, . Hes a free agent who can now sign with any club. Underwoods release comes despite generally solid results in Scranton. Hes pitched 38 2/3 innings for the RailRiders, logging a 3.26 ERA with a 23.4% strikeout rate thats slightly north of the big league average. The Yankees never game him a look in the big leagues this season, likely due in part to an unpalatable 14% walk rate that portends some regre sion in that otherwise sharp earned run average. A second-round pick by the Cubs back in 2012, the now 30-year-old Underwood has three-plus years of big league service that have been accrued over parts of six seasons split evenly between the Cubs and Pirates. Underwood found some decent succe s with Pittsburgh from 2021-22 and even worked his way into a leverage role with the 22 Bucs. Over those two seasons, he tallied 130 innings of 4.36 ERA ball with a 21.1% strikeout rate, 9% walk rate, 45.7% ground-ball rate, one save and a dozen holds. He was arguably miscast as a setup man, Roberto Osuna Jersey but Underwood looked the part of a perfectly serviceable middle reliever at the very least. The 2023 season marked a notable step back for the right-hander, however. Underwood pitched just 24 1/3 frames in the big leagues and was roughed up for a 5.18 ERA with glaring declines in his strikeout and walk rates. His average sinker fell from 95.3 mph in 22 to 93.6 mph in 23, and Underwood posted a career-low 14% strikeout rate against a career-worst 11% walk rate. Pittsburgh pa sed him through waivers last June. He became a minor league free agent at seasons end and signed with the Yankees. On the whole, Underwood has 190 2/3 innings of 4.63 ERA ball under his belt in the majors. Hes set down 21.5% of his opponents on strikes and i sued free pa ses at a 9% clip both numbers right in line with the results he delivered for the 2021-22 Pirates. Hes worked mostly in short relief with the Yankees organization, although Underwood does have eight appearances in which hes recorded between four and six outs over the past couple months. He could be an option for a team seeking some depth in the form of an experienced arm thats comfortable working more than an inning per appearance. Larry Dierker Jersey