Derek

Dietrich

Dietrich tested positive for 1,4-dimethylpentylamine. The veteran has spent all of this season in the minors with the Yankees and hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2020.

Dietrich last appeared in the majors with the Rangers during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The 32-year-old veteran slugger holds a .245/.335/.428 triple-slash line with 84 round-trippers and seven stolen bases across 2,513 plate appearances in 746 major-league games since 2013. He spent time with the Yankees and Nationals at the Triple-A level last year.

Dietrich has spent all of 2021 at the Triple-A level, producing just a .631 OPS. He’ll probably sit the rest of the season out before seeking another minor league deal this winter.

Dietrich is expected to report to Triple-A Rochester, where he will serve as organizational infield depth moving forward. The power-hitting 31-year-old infielder opted out of a minor-league deal with the Yankees earlier this season and appeared in 25 games for the Rangers during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

Dietrich signed a minor league contract with the Yankees on March 29 -- two days after he was released by the Yankees -- and he hit just .215 with five homers in 36 games, but did post a .413 on-base percentage. He’s now free to find a new organization.

Dietrich was released over the weekend, but he’s now agreed to return and report to the team’s alternate training site. He’s not a bad depth piece to have around, especially for a club that’s in need of some first base depth while Luke Voit (knee) is sidelined.

Dietrich epitomizes the modern-era, all-or-nothing slugger, and really struggled at the plate this spring. He hit .167 (4-for-24) with one homer and nine strikeouts in 11 Grapefruit games this spring. He’ll likely resurface in another organization at some point this season.

Dietrich flashed good power in limited action with the Rangers last season and owns a respectable .793 OPS with 24 home runs in 138 games since the beginning of 2019, but the 31-year-old probably faces an uphill battle to crack the Opening Day roster with the Yankees.

Dietrich was responsible for one of the Rangers’ three homers on Sunday; his a solo shot off Frankie Montas in the second inning. While he got off to a strong start in his first few game with Texas, he’s mostly struggled with the bat, and he’s hitting just .200/.333/.400 in an even 20 games and 50 at-bats while auditioning for a roster spot in 2021.

The Dodgers tied things up at 2-2 in the top of the seventh inning, but Dietrich immediately answered by taking Jake McGee yard to begin the bottom of the frame. The Rangers would go on to tack on three more runs in the seventh. For Dietrich, this was his second homer in a Rangers uniform. He came into Friday’s action in a 2-for-20 slide, so this was a dramatic way to turn things around.