Loaisiga appears to be in contention to fill the vacancy in the Yankees rotation Friday against the Rays, Brendan Kuty of NJ.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

With only 14 appearances in affiliated ball over the previous two seasons, the right-hander from Nicaragua received limited attention in prospect circles entering 2018. The Yankees thought enough of Loaisiga to protect him from the Rule 5 draft over the winter, and the 23-year-old has only further validated that decision with the dominance he has displayed across two levels. After opening the season with a 1.35 ERA and 26:1 K:BB in 20 innings at High-A Tampa, Loaisiga earned a promotion to Double-A Trenton and has continued to impress. Though issues with the long ball have kept his ERA at 4.32 over 25 frames, he has continued to control the strike zone effectively (32:3 K:BB). Given Loaisiga's lack of experience at the upper levels of the minors, it would be rather bold of the Yankees to throw him into the fire at the major-league level, but the fact that he already has a spot on the 40-man roster may give him an edge over his primary competition for the rotation opening in 30-year-old David Hale.