Yankees activate Luis Cessa, put A.J. Cole on DL | What it means

Manager Aaron Boone explained the Yankees’ Thursday morning roster move before a series finale against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium.

NEW YORK — Yankees players had a late-arrival time to the ballpark the morning after they overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners in dramatic fashion.

One of the first to enter the clubhouse for Thursday’s 1:05 series finale was the one player who wasn’t around to see Giancarlo Stanton’s ninth-inning, walk-off homer that gave the Yankees a 7-5 victory Wednesday night in a game they had trailed 5-0 after 4 1/2 innings.

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Just off the disabled list, right-hander Luis Cessa walked in around 10:30 a.m. carrying a large travel bag that he set at the foot of his old locker, which is on a same clubhouse wall where several other Yankees relievers dress for home games.

Cessa had been scheduled Double-A rehab start in Trenton on Thursday, but instead was activated from the DL due to long reliever A.J. Cole pinching a nerve in his neck playing catch before Wednesday’s game.

Cole, who was injured the day after his first outing in 22 days, was put on the 10-day DL.

“We don’t think it’s anything serious,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s probably two-three-four days maybe, but we just felt like we needed the coverage.”

Cole, 26, has pitched 13 shutout innings since the Yankees purchased him from the Washington Nationals on April 24, but he pitched just seven times in 58 days.

On Tuesday, Cole pitched 1-2-3 eighth and ninth innings to close out a 7-2 Yankees win over Seattle in his first action since May 28.

Cessa, 26, had been on the DL since April 19 with a left oblique strain. He made two recent rehab starts, allowing two runs over 1 2/3 innings pitching for high A Tampa on June 11 before pitching a two-hitter over four shutout innings with four strikeouts and no walks for Trenton on June 16.

Cessa threw 46 pitches in his first rehab start, 45 in his second.

In April, Cessa made three relief appearances with the Yankees and allowed two runs and three hits in four innings.

“Cessa is in the middle of being stretched out to get back to starting … so we felt like not being certain how long Cole might be (out), we just felt like we needed the length just in case we got into a (long-relief) situation,” Boone said.

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