The New York Yankees are probably fine. Expectations are always high for the Bronx Bombers. But at 45-36 halfway through the season, the team is in a good spot to earn yet another playoff berth, even with Aaron Judge out until sometime in August.
The worry surrounding New York right now is whether the team can stay afloat without the presence of Judge in the lineup. Guys have been stepping up the last couple of weeks to try and fill some of that production, and there is more help on the way.
This week in Oakland they dropped the first game, which isn’t abnormal for the Yankees this season. Eight times they have dropped the first game of a series in 2023 and come back to win it. This team has pieces that look to be clicking, and the club is expecting co-ace Carlos Rodón to make his pinstripe debut in front of the home crowd July 7 against the Chicago Cubs.
The Yankees’ offense has been a little worse than league average this season (95 wRC+), and they have the worst offense in baseball with a 71 wRC+ since Judge last played on June 3. With back-to-back double-digit run outbursts against the A’s, the Yankees’ offense has built up some momentum as they head to St. Louis for a weekend series.
Former Cardinal Harrison Bader said, “I think momentum is a really large part of this game, especially on offense.” The A’s have the worst team ERA in baseball at 6.08, but the Cardinals aren’t much better, ranked 25th with a cumulative 4.58 ERA on the year.
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Anthony Volpe stepping up at right time for the New York Yankees
Anthony Volpe recorded multiple hits in all three games in Oakland, going 7-for-12 with a double, a stolen base, and two runs scored. He’s 16-for-54 (.296) since Judge was placed on the IL. Aaron Boone said after Thursday’s game, “he’s going to be really good, man. The at-bats have been really good. I feel like he’s taken away some holes. Feel like he’s making some good, solid adjustments to how the league is pitching him.”
Volpe made some adjustments after meeting with old teammates at his house on June 12 per the New York Daily News, and since he made those slight tweaks has gone 15-for-43 (.349), improving his batting average from .186 to .212.
While the majority of Volpe’s hits in this stretch have been singles, Isiah Kiner-Falefa said after the Oakland finale that it’s important to “keep passing the baton, that’s the biggest thing right now. Not trying to do too much, just try to do the small things and let the next guy behind us do his job. I think when we’re just trying to just hit singles, it ends up being bigger than it should be. When we’re trying to hit home runs it backfires a little bit.”
The Yankees will look to ride the momentum they’ve built this week into the weekend before returning home for four against the Baltimore Orioles and three against the Cubs. With the O’s ahead of New York by four games, that series right before the All Star Break could vault one of those two teams into a second half surge.
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New York Yankees excited for return of Carlos Rodon
The Yankees’ rotation currently consists of Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, Domingo Germán, and Clarke Schmidt. Rodón is set to join that mix for the first time this season after being shut down during spring training with a strained forearm.
When he pitches in New York, the left-hander will be making his Yankee debut after signing a six year, $160 million contract during the off-season. Last season with the San Francisco Giants, the 30-year-old posted a 2.88 ERA (2.25 FIP) with a 1.03 WHIP, 11.98 strikeouts per nine, and 2.63 walks per nine across 178 innings. If Rodón is able to replicate those numbers upon his arrival, the one-two punch he’d provide alongside Cole (2.78 ERA this season) would be one of, if not the best, combo in baseball.
In seven innings pitched across two outings on his rehab assignment, Rodón has allowed just two hits and one run while striking out nine and walking one. Despite having an opponent’s batting average of .091 and a WHIP of 0.43, he is 0-1 in two starts, which is just part of the beauty of baseball.
The Yankees are also hopeful that starter Nestor Cotres Jr. will be able to return to the rotation in mid-to-late July per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. While the Yankees offense may struggle at times during Judge’s absence, the pitching staff could get a couple of monster boosts in the coming weeks.
When Judge initially went out, it took a little time for the Yankees to find their footing as a team, dropping a series to the 36-47 Chicago White Sox and losing five of six to the Boston Red Sox. Since then, they’ve rebounded against the AL West, taking two of three from the Mariners, Rangers, and A’s. Texas has the second-best record in the American League, and the Yankees beat them in a series without Judge. Without Rodón. Without Cortes Jr.
This team can still compete.
Perfection for Domingo German
Going into Thursday’s finale in Oakland, the visitor’s clubhouse was still feeling the high of the historic feat that they’d been a part of the night before, when 30-year-old Domingo German tossed the 24th perfect game in MLB history, joining Don Larsen, David Wells, and David Cone as the only Yankees to throw a perfect-o.
German’s brilliance on Wednesday evening also snapped a streak of 5,010 straight games the A’s had recorded a hit, dating back to 1991. The only time the A’s had been the victim of a perfect game was back in 1904 when Cy Young of the Boston Americans blanked the Philadelphia Athletics for the first perfect game of the Modern Era.
Germán told reporters (through his interpreter Marlon Abreu) before Thursday’s contest that it had always been a dream of his to throw a perfect game. “When you’re coming up as a pitcher, it’s something you dream about.”
As for mementos, the righty said he plans to keep a lot of the items he was using during his outing, including his shoes, uniform, hat, glove, and his belt. The belt was already special to Germán because it has his youngest’s name on it.
Thursday starter Clarke Schmidt told reporters that he and catcher Jose Trevino jokingly said they wanted to make it back-to-back perfect games, but after Tony Kemp led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle, Schmidt said, “we put up the best effort we could.”
Jason Burke covers Major League Baseball for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.