New York Yankees Bring Up David Adams, Designate Chris Nelson for Assignment

David Adams

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

After 10 games and 36 at-bats, infielder Chris Nelson’s current tenure with the New York Yankees has come to an end as the team designated him for assignment Wednesday afternoon.

Nelson was acquired less than two weeks ago in an effort to sure up an injured and depleted Yankee infield, as well as to add another righty bat into the lefty-laden lineup. He began his time in pinstripes 0-12, but was recently starting to hit, including going 2-4 in Tuesday night’s game shortly before he was let go.

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The roster move was made to make room for infielder David Adams. Adams, who is most known by Yankees fans as the player that got in the way of the trade for Cliff Lee, was released just before the start of the regular season to accommodate Vernon Wells. He was re-signed three days later, and will be making his major league debut in Wednesday night’s game against the Seattle Mariners.

Adams, who is also a right-hander, played very well in the first month of the season at the Triple-A level in Scranton. He batted .316 with three home runs and six doubles while there. Adams seems to be a solid hitter in the minor leagues, with an average that stays in the upper .200s to low .300s and some power to go with it, as he hit eight homers in Trenton last season.

The 26-year-old has shown he can hit, but his fielding might not be perfect yet. While Nelson committed no errors in his short time in the Bronx, Adams already has three on the season. Hopefully, he can keep that to a minimum while filling in for his teammates on the disabled list.

Once Eduardo Nunez and Kevin Youkilis return, as well as Mark Teixeira (who by all accounts is progressing quite well towards coming back), Adams will likely return to the minors to work on his game. But, surely none of that matters for him now; he is starting in his first major league game, playing third base, and batting sixth — and as an added bonus, it is his birthday.

As far as Nelson goes, the assumption is that manager Joe Girardi was not overly impressed, and although he didn’t really get enough time to prove himself, Nelson will make way for the next Yankees hopeful as he tries to shine. And if he can field and hit at the major league level, a young righty bat could be very useful.

Holly Berkowitz is a New York Yankees writer for www.rantsports.com. Follow her on Twitter @hollyberry9118.

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