The New York Yankees’ 2021 season, if you’re a diehard fan, was arguably the most agonizing in recent memory. That team somehow won 92 games and still managed to be that big of a letdown. We don’t like being reminded of it, but Brooks Kriske just elicited the unfortunate flashbacks.

Kriske was just designated for assignment by the Chicago Cubs after they agreed to a contract with former Cardinals reliever Genesis Cabrera. Unfortunately for Kriske, the Cubs are his childhood team and he was elated to sign there this past winter.

But he was used as roster fodder, logging only two innings in the Windy City before hitting waivers. It’s unclear if Chicago will bring him back if he goes unclaimed. It’s possible, since he was actually have a solid go of it at Triple-A Iowa (28 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings).

Yankees fans know Kriske’s ability to handle hitters in the minor leagues … only to look completely lost when he takes the next step, though. The right-hander was drafted by the Yankees in 2016 and earned top prospect status. He relatively cruised through the farm system and earned an expedited promotion to make his MLB debut during the shortened 2020 season.

But Kriske skipped Triple-A as a result of the canceled 2020 minor league season and it’s quite possible that affected his development.

Yankees News: Former top prospect Brooks Kriske DFA’d by Cubs

With the Bombers, Kriske finished with a 15.09 ERA, 2.47 WHIP and 11.12 FIP. He threw four wild pitches in an extra innings loss against the Red Sox in late July of 2021, which essentially cost the Yankees home field advantage for the Wild Card Game because Boston won the tiebreaker at the end of the regular season. They got rocked in Fenway and watched their rivals go on an ALCS run.

Those 11 1/3 innings Kriske logged with the Yankees were nothing short of a disaster. He allowed six home runs and walked 13 batters. He was DFA’d by New York in September of that 2021 season, but it wasn’t immediately after that Red Sox meltdown. They had to watch him give up five earned runs in a single inning in an 8-0 loss to the Blue Jays before they said, “Alright, ya got me!”.

Kriske was picked up by the Orioles, but struggled in Baltimore too. He ended up in Japan for 2022-2023 before bouncing back around MLB starting in late ’23. He’s once again been producing at the Triple-A level. That’ll certainly still be valuable to some teams looking for that kind of depth.

Man, though, Yankees fans were not expecting to hear this guy’s name in the midst of a 16-4 run with the LA Dodgers on deck. We wish Kriske the best, but we gotta shake off the 2021 vibes ASAP.