Rumors of the Yankees' demise were greatly exaggerated.
Brandon Drury is beginning his rehab assignment. It will be interesting to see how the infield shakes out at that point. It seems pretty certain that Andujar will remain the regular starting 3B for a while, and Torres sure doesn't look like a rookie. Maybe he can fulfill the role they envisioned for Wade as a Zobrist-type who can fill in at multiple positions in both the IF and OF. I have no idea if Drury can play OF, of course.
Didi isn't going to hit like this forever but damn I'm enjoying this while it lasts. Sporting a .372/.470/.833 triple slash at the moment to go with excellent defense. Something to remember - the Yankees got him straight up for Shane Greene. I'd say that one worked out well.
With Sanchez and Stanton's well-documented struggles, a slow start that's flown under the radar is Gardner's. The one saving grace for him as leadoff man is that he's still drawing a ton of walks despite not hitting much.
I agree with RAB on Gray - I don't think he's nibbling, I think he simply cannot throw his curve for strikes right now. Something's gotta give soon - you can't keep running him out there to go less than 5 innings. It's wearing the pen out, and without Kahnle and Warren the pen is already a bit thin.
Organizational stuff.....the Yankees have long seemed to really like Brady Lail despite uneven performances, and maybe he's finally found his niche as a reliever. He's been lights out in Scranton - 0.73 ERA in 12 innings, only 4 hits allowed, 15/7 K/BB. Tyler Wade is a mess right now - 2-14 in Scranton after 3-35 in NY. Hope he can get back on track soon. Justus Sheffield had another strong start last night, going 6, 4 hits, 8/1 K/BB, 1 ER. Between him, Dillon Tate (1.80 ERA), and Erik Swanson (0.87 ERA), someone's going to get a promotion soon.
IFA is funny sometimes - the Yankees have gotten some great returns out of low-dollar guys like Severino and Andujar, while hyped signings like Leonardo Molina and Wilkerman Garcia have floundered. Those guys are still very young, but man, they really have shown nothing.
Frecier Perez had a lot of buzz in the offseason as a fast-rising prospect, but has had a rough start in Tampa. Johnny Lasagna, on the other hand, has shined (1.20 ERA, 19/1 K/BB). If he can stay healthy the Yankees may have really struck paydirt with that kid. Isiah Gilliam has looked good in Tampa, too (.311/.346/.446).
Funny thing about the Didi/Shane Greene trade reference - remember Greene's first 3 starts with Detroit in 2015 were dominant, and there was some obvious chatter questioning the Yanks giving him up?
Greene has won a grand total of 14 games in his 3+ seasons with the Tigers...only 11 more since those 3 wins.
Ouch.
I think Gray needs to go back to a small market team. I hope I'm wrong and he figures it out here. As a related aside, Sheffield has looked really good and may be getting the bump to AAA.
Fogive my repeating from the game post, but do you think Stanton should play RF? I hate to move Judge, but I'm positive he would handle the move to LF better. And also at the riskof repeating, Stanton needs more court awareness at the plate. You can't swing at 3 shit pitches and try to be the hero with 2 on and 2 out when you have Sanchez batting behind you. This isn't the Marlins.
Same here. He's a legend in the making. He hits the ball hard every freaking at-bat. Great defender and teammate, to boot. I'm beginning to think his slump last year was 100 percent about that shoulder injury.
Nickname....his actual name is Jonathan Loasiga.
But I'd rather call him Lasagna - ( New Window )
Was joking with my kids the other night watching the game he just looks out of place out there with his size. Its like a 6th grader playing with a bunch of 2nd graders. Amazing. I guess through the years i'm used to the taller guys in baseball having more of a lean build. He's like solid muscle and athletic at the same time. Seriously if he continues spitting on the slider down and away the way he has for a month now the sky is the limit.
Judge DH
Gregorius SS
Stanton RF
Sanchez C
Hicks CF
Austin 1B
Andujar 3B
Torres 2B
Gumby on the bump.