Reliever Cade Winquest becomes rare Yankees’ Rule 5 draft selection to make opening day roster

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Reliever Cade Winquest had hopped into the shower when Aaron Boone tried to call him before the New York Yankees left Arizona for opening day in San Francisco.

Winquest immediately called back — and that’s when he found out he had made the major league roster and was headed to the Bay Area with the Yankees, something he had prepared for just in case by packing everything for the road trip.

“He got back to me quick,” Boone shared a day later. “I wish I could have given that in person. I needed to do it over the phone just because I needed to do some other things. But one of the things even in the pitchers’ meeting he’s the one guy that this is his major league debut, so everyone kind of was fired up for him and congratulatory to him. It’s good to see, I know he’s excited and earned the opportunity.”

Winquest had predicted his odds at 50-50, so he began planning in order to get his parents into San Francisco from the Dallas area and his girlfriend a flight from New York.

“It was a relief for sure,” Winquest said in the visiting clubhouse at Oracle Park on Wednesday, ahead of baseball’s season opener between the Yankees and Giants.

New York selected the right-hander from the Cardinals during the December Rule 5 draft — and became the club’s first Rule 5 player to make the opening day roster since infielder Josh Phelps in 2007.

The Yankees hadn’t selected in the Rule 5 draft since picking pitcher Brad Meyers in 2011.

“It gives me all the confidence in the world knowing that an organization like this wants me and believes in me, and I believe in myself,” Winquest said, “so I’m excited to work with them and see what we can do this season.”

Winquest, who will turn 26 on April 30, isn’t sure what his role will be yet, saying that will be determined in time.

He expects some anxiety when his debut opportunity arrives.

“I’m sure, I’m human, I’m going to be nervous,” he said. “I’m usually nervous every time I pitch but as soon as I set foot on the mound it goes away. But I think it’s more of like an anxious, ready to get out there and ready to compete more than a bad nervous.”

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Winquest went 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA over nine outings this spring. An eighth-round draft pick by the Cardinals in 2022 out of the University of Texas at Arlington, he spent parts of three minor league seasons in the St. Louis farm system from 2023-25.

Now, he waits for his turn to take the ball for the first time as a big leaguer.

“It’s crazy. It’s a really cool feeling, definitely feeling all the emotions,” Winquest said. “But I’m mostly excited about everything. I just want to feel the atmosphere, even today, even if I don’t get in today I want to feel all the emotions out there.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb