Forgotten Yankees: Keynan Middleton
- Dominic Konareski
- 5 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Very rarely have I done an article on a player dubbed ‘forgotten’ if they’re still active, but I feel that this is a very good opportunity to showcase a former Yankee who has recently become a free agent.
Keynan Middleton is one of the most recent forgotten New York Yankees players. Middleton joined the Yankees as a trade piece, coming from the White Sox with the Yankees sending Juan Carela to Chi-town.
Prior to the mid-2023 season trade, Middleton was one of the best arms in Chicago’s bullpen with a 3.96 ERA across 36.1 innings. Being traded to New York on August 1st, Middleton would end up making 12 appearances for the Yankees.
In the righty’s 12 appearances and 14.1 innings, he would record a sub 2.00 ERA at 1.88, while striking out 17 and contributing for a 0.4 pWAR. Out of the 12 appearances, 10 of them would be scoreless. Middleton would notch the lowest WHIP for a team in his Major League career, with a 0.977 WHIP with New York. Overall, he was one of the best pitchers for New York in what was a down season.
After the 2023 season concluded, Middleton would hit free agency and end up with the St. Louis Cardinals for 2024. He would begin 2024 on the injured list and as of 2026 Middletown is still yet to make a return to the Majors with multiple injuries and poor minor league stat lines. He was signed by the Dodgers in February of 2026, but was released on July 20th after posting a near 5.00 ERA in Triple-AAA.
As of now, Keynan Middleton’s last MLB appearance came as a member of the New York Yankees on September 29th, 2023, against the Royals. Now, at age 32 and being released by Los Angeles to hit free agency again, it does appear that Middleton’s hopes to return to the big leagues may be over.
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