The calendar has turned to June, so you know what that means. It’s entirely possible that we’ll spend the next four weeks looking back on the glory days of April and (most of) May, wondering how this team ever scored any runs, ever got any outs, ever won any games.
The June Swoon has become as much a part of Yankee tradition as complaining about Aaron Boone, so it couldn’t have been much of a surprise that the month started off with hints at what would be the worst possible news — a long-term injury to Aaron Judge. Apparently he’s been suffering from shoulder discomfort for the past week or so, corresponding with a time during which he was hitting more like Judge Reinhold than Aaron Judge, and tests have revealed a bone bruise, which reminded me that we haven’t seen Max Fried for a while, which then made think, “Wow, Cam Schlittler has been so great that I actually forgot about Max Fried!”
But Schlittler has the same calendar the rest of us do, so maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised when he was shelled by the Guardians on Tuesday night. Can’t we have nice things? At least for a while?
But the news isn’t all bad. In fact, there’s reason for hope. Paul “Run It Back” Goldschmidt has been raking against lefties, and he had another nice night in the 9-4 loss. Ben Rice has been so good that I don’t think anyone’s expeting a regression anymore. Also, there’s word that the Yankees are preparing to unleash Weapon X on the American League, as they’ve moved flamethrower Carlos Lagrange into the bullpen down in Scranton with designs on bringing him to the Bronx in the near future. (Don’t worry, this isn’t another Joba Rules fiasco; they still see him as a future mainstay in the rotation, but the possibility of seeing 103mph fastballs coming out of the bullpen is too much to resist right now.)
Oh, and what about the Tarik Skubal rumors? While it’s nice to dream about a playoff rotation of Cole, Skubal, Schlittler, and Fried, with Rodón, Weathers, Warren, and Schmidt in the bullpen, a Skubal trade would be foolish, since any conversation with Detroit would begin with Schlittler, Rice, and probably Lombard, Jr. or Lagrange. I still don’t mind that they packaged prospects for a year of Juan Soto, but sending a bigger haul for half a season of Skubal, even if it netted a World Series win, seems a bit steep.
Finally, before June gets too gloomy, let’s remember that these Yankees are still just a game out of first place. Let’s go, Yankees!
What month is it again?
Here’s a sobering stat. Ben Rice’s slugging percentage is almost a hundred points higher than Austin Wells’s OPS. That’s hard to do.
Who says there's a June Swoon??? A win is a win!
So it appears that Judge has a rib stress fracture, which seems like good news compared to some of the doom and gloom season-ending scenarios we were hearing. This isn't thoracic outlet syndrome, but it seems like he'll likely miss a couple of months. If he's back for August, September, and the playoffs, I'll be happy.
Dag. Rest up Judge. In an alternate universe the Yankees have a healthy rotation and no injuries. The Baseball Gods are a fickle bunch.
Now that's what I call a two-out-runs delivery.
And that's what I call a slump-breaker.
Or anyway let's hope so!
-------------NY---------------TB
Diff -------96 ----------------7
OPS-----.762 (2) ------.720 (11th)
HR--------- 91 (1) -------- 52 (28th)
ERA-----3.30 (4) -------.96 (11th)
Tied at 0 games out - TB up 3 percentage points
TB has a diff of 7 but are 12 games over .500 !!!!!!!!!!
They must be dancing with the devil.
Can they keep this up all season?
Still dealing with a bad back Dr : tomorrow
I am glad Goldschmidt is having a nice year, but going from platooning against LHP to batting third against RHP. I don't know about that.
Great win tonight.
What if Judge is replaced by Jazz raising his OPS by a hundred points or so, Grisham doing the same, and Jones having an OPS of 700? Considering where those players have been, just a return to something closer to what's expected (Jazz and Grisham) could help get this team through the next two or three months.
[12] Or, improvement in the bullpen as a whole.
I know you specifically meant bats, but my view is that there is a lot of randomness in relief pitcher performance (with the One Great Exception, of course). If those guys could cut one run every two games, say, that actually does amount to Judge's rate of run production.
So, be honest: are you rooting for the Rays, or the Sox, in their current series? I must be in a good mood because I'm happy with either result!
RBJ, I hope your orthopedic visit went okay.
Well, Hank... Jazz and Grisham! With the home run king out of the lineup, we'll have to settle for a couple of triples.
And Grisham then scored on a foul ball, with some help from Jazz -- if you're going to watch one highlight today, watch that one.
Wow, Paulie is hitting just over .200 against righties and just under .400 against lefties.
But... he sure hit *that* righty.
Five runs in the ninth? A three-run home run with two outs? I like it!
It's enough to tear a fan away from the World Cup.
Seriously, I wonder if Judge feels like he can just do what he's supposed to do and heal up because everything's going to be okay for a while without him. The bats are stepping up.
Wow, Bednar looked untouchable yesterday, not fooling anyone today.