Aaron Judge

New York Yankees: Didi Gregorius Will Bust Slump with Fun and Hard Work

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New York Yankees, Didi Gregorius

Fans are calling New York Yankees’  Didi Gregorius the “Ofer” because he is in the midst of a career-worst hitless streak encompassing 28 at-bats. The April Player of the Month has lost 100 points on his average since April 25 when he was batting .372—-he is currently batting .272.

While fans suspected that Gregorius would not keep up the torrid pace of his April play indefinitely, hitting .330 with 10 home runs and 30 RBI’s in 25 days, they did not expect him to fall to earth so completely so quickly.

New York Post’s Howie Kussoy reports that after the game Boone discussed Gregorius’ struggles:

“He’s just a little bit off from a timing standpoint,’’ Boone said. “I think he is working through some things. It’s the ebb and flow of the season and I believe shortly he will get it rolling again. The key for him is sometimes he thinks, ‘I’ve just got to put it in play.’ Instead of hey, get into position to impact the ball. When he’s doing that then he is laying off the pitches that he shouldn’t be swinging at and he’s impacting the ball because he is capable of it.”

Kussoy reports that Boone also finds optimism in the fact that Gregorius has only struck out twice during the recent homestand, despite going 0-25.

Gregorius is known for his infectious smiles and dynamite after-game highlights on Twitter, and is also known as an elite shortstop whose work ethic and dedication to his craft are well documented.

Since joining the Yankees, Gregorius has had the monumental task of becoming more than the successor to Derek Jeter by becoming the best Didi Gregorius at shortstop he could become and that meant becoming a more complete player.

Not only are his defensive skills the equal of top shortstops Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa and Corey Seager, but his offensive skills have improved to make him one of the most impactful players on a team bursting with impact players.

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Tanya Bondurant of Pinstripe Alley sums up Gregorius’ 2017 regular season impact:

“In 136 games this season, Gregorius hit .287/.318/.478 with 25 (yes, 25) home runs. Those statistics were good enough for 3.9 fWAR, which put him third among Yankee position players behind only Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez. Not bad company to keep.”

In 2018, Gregorius came out of spring training red hot, even out pacing Mike Trout (nine) for the most home runs hit in April with 10. Needless to say he was outperforming the Yankees own sluggers, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez.

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What does Gregorius himself believe is the answer to busting out of his slump? He told Kussoy:

“This game is about having fun and that is my approach. Work hard and have fun.”

Gregorius has the only attitude a player can have when overcoming adversity—remember that this is supposed to be fun.

Fans hope Gregorius can start having a lot more fun—the sooner the better or what were raucous cheers in April may become rumbling boos in May.

 

The New York Yankees Had To ‘Earn’ The Best Record In Baseball

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It was a long, long time ago. The New York Yankees had just lost 8-5 to the Toronto Blue Jays. It was April 20 and the Bombers were 9-9. Giancarlo Stanton was striking out at an alarming rate and fans were ready to burn down the city.

For those same beloved fans, that seems like forever ago. Here we sit on May 10 and the Yankees have only lost once since that horrifying day in April.

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Can they complete the sweep?

The Yankees are looking for a series sweep against the rival Boston Red Sox. They have won 17 of their last 18 games and currently have the best record in baseball at 26-10. Is anyone surprised?

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Back in December, the Yankees traded a bucket of balls for the reigning NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton. The feeling in the Bronx was that this team was never going to lose again. After a slow start, they figured it out thanks to the play of their young guns.

Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres have been spark plugs in this Yankee lineup to go along with Stanton, Aaron Judge and the AL Player of the Month for April, Didi Gregorius.

The Yankees have dealt with minor injuries throughout the season, most notable to Brandon Drury. Jordan Montgomery will be on the shelf for a few weeks but this team will surely not struggle without their fifth starter. Their pitching has been good enough to get by. The catalyst is Luis Severino but the rotation is surviving thanks to the success of ageless wonder, C.C. Sabathia. He holds a 2-0 record with a 1.39 ERA in 32.1 innings.

The Yankees were an early season favorite to win the Fall Classic. They were expected to win 100 games and break all different home run records in a season. Some might have said that it was impossible or too good to be true but here in the now, the Yanks are showing the world that they are for real and it is not a dream.

Series Opener: Yankees Power to win behind Luis Severino, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge

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New York Yankees, Luis Severino

Giancarlo Stanton’s two home runs powered the offense and Luis Severino led the pitching staff with a superb game in the Yankees 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

Stanton’s two homers gave him his third multi-homer game of the season. Coming into this series in the last 6 games, Stanton was hitting .227/.313/.455, going 4-19 with 10 strikeouts, three walks and four RBIs.

With his two home run performance, fans hope that Stanton will keep producing at a higher pace throughout the series.

Severino was strong through 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits, striking out 11 and leaving with a 2.21 ERA.

Despite an elite performance against the hot-hitting Red Sox, Severino received a no decision in the game. Dan Martin of the New York Post wrote that:

“It was still an impressive night, since right-handed starters — including Severino — were 1-15 with a 7.48 ERA in 26 starts against the Red Sox before Tuesday.”

And Severino told Martin:

“I was grinding through,” Severino said. “It was hard.”

Severino struck out Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez and when they did get hits off him, they stayed in the park and didn’t result in RBIs. The only scoring with Severino in the game came on an Andrew Benintendi single—-made possible by Gary Sanchez’ inability to locate the ball on strike out victim Eduardo Nunez, who reached base.

Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports that Boone said after the game:

“It’s blinders on,” manager Aaron Boone said. “We’re playing good baseball, doing it a lot of different ways. Tonight was tough. Boston is really good. They battle, battle, battle; kind of hung around. It’s just nice that we’re racking up some wins here. Good to get this series off on a good note, and hopefully we can get one tomorrow.”

When Boone says “tonight was tough,” he may have been referring to the way the team made it tough on itself in beating Boston—Glebyer Torres had an uncharacteristic error and was also caught out at home after being sent home in a controversial decision by third base coach Phil Nevin.

There was also the previously mentioned Nunez strike out ball that got by Sanchez allowing him to reach first and later score to cut the Yankees lead to 2-1.

There was an element of sloppiness on defense, except where the outfield was concerned. Aaron Judge made a stellar play, showing off his powerful arm by throwing out Christian Vasquez, who made the poor decision to try to extend his hit to right field into a double.  (Check out the video out at: https://www.mlb.com/video/judge-nabs-vazquez-at-second/c-2021305383?tid=51231442)

It was power all around that vaulted the Yankees to the victory on Tuesday night, Severino and Aroldis Chapman’s overpowering fastballs, Stanton’s slugging over the walls, and Judge’s arm. The Yankees outmuscled the Red Sox to take the first game of the series.

At the start of play today, the two teams are evenly matched at the top of the division at 25-10. The bats of Brett Gardner, Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andujar and Didi Gregorius have yet to come to life in the series—but no doubt these quiet bats will not remain quiet.

The pitching matchup for tonight features Masahiro Tanaka (4-2, 4.39 ERA) against Rick Porcello (5-0, 2.14 ERA) in what promises to be another American League East dogfight—this time to stand alone at the top.

Preview: Yankees v Red Sox And A Look At LHP Drew Pomeranz

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New York Yankees, Aaron Judge

On the mound for the Boston Red Sox Tuesday night opposite New York Yankees‘ Luis Severino is lefty Drew Pomeranz, 29, a Collierville, Tennessee native and former first round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2010.

Pomeranz was traded by the Indians before ever playing for them and has played for the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics and San Diego Padres in his seven year career in Major League Baseball.

An All-Star in 2016, Pomeranz was traded by the Padres to the Red Sox after the All-Star break in ’16. Since coming over to the Red Sox, Pomeranz has thrown 257 innings (49 games) with a 3.82 ERA, 1.3 H/9, 3.5 BB/9 and 9.1 K/9.

After beginning the season on the disabled list with a forearm strain, Pomeranz has just begun to find his way on the mound in 2018. Ryan Chichester of Locked on Yanks writes:

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“After a pair of clunkers, Pomeranz rebounded in his most recent start to toss six innings against the Royals, allowing three earned runs on eight hits. It was certainly an improvement over his first two starts of the year, where he allowed seven runs over 8.2 innings of work.”

Pomeranz currently has a 1-1 record with a 6.14 ERA, 1.8 H/9, 3.7 BB/9 and 8.6 K/9, well off his career marks, however, as noted above, he has been better of late and the Yankees will be catching him on an upswing.

With a roster that included Chris Carter, Chase Headley and Matt Holiday, the 2017 Yankees team saw Pomeranz five times and hit .274 off him with 5 homers—hit by Carter, Headly, Holliday, and two by Gary Sanchez.

Despite having a 3-2 record at Yankee Stadium with a 3.12 ERA, Pomeranz is in for a surprise as this year’s Yankee lineup features two of the league’s hottest hitters in Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar, along with the already dangerous power hitters Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez, who has experience taking Pomeranz long.

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Brooks Baseball reports that in 2018 Pomeranz has relied:

“primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (89mph) and Curve using a Knuckle Curve grip (77mph), also mixing in a Sinker (88mph) and Cutter (85mph). He also rarely throws a Change (83mph).”

Brooks Baseball describes Pomeranz’ curve as having “exceptional bite” and his four seam fastball as having “slightly below average velo.” Look for Yankee batters to take advantage of Pomeranz’ fastball, to lay off the curveball and to victimize him with the long ball tonight.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, The Yankees (24-10) and the Red Sox (25-9) haven’t met in a series with the two best records in baseball since June 2, 2002.

The stage is set for a good old fashioned American League East knock-down-drag-out matchup tonight. Severino will be looking to even up his record against Boston this season with a win today and the Bombers have shown lately that they’re never out of a game and never give up.

New York Yankees: Aaron Judge Quietly Struggling

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New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge.

Lost in the excitement of the Yankees winning the series 3-1 from the Houston Astros Thursday afternoon is the fact that Aaron Judge is quietly struggling at the plate.

While Giancarlo Stanton seemingly found his mojo against Dallas Keuchel this week, going 3-4 with two home runs, Judge has not been hitting and has not been walking at his usual rate since the Yankees went west.

Prior to the west coast swing, Judge was batting .337/.482/.640 with seven home runs. In fact, he’s been sitting on seven home runs since April 24, when he hit one out against Minnesota Twins’ pitcher Jose Berrios.

In the past seven games, including the Los Angeles Angels and Astros series, Judge’s slash line is .179/.207/.250 with five hits, two RBIs, 1 walk and 12 strikeouts.

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Against Angels’ pitching Judge was 3-15 with 13 strikeouts and against Houston pitching, he was 2-13 with 2 strikeouts.

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After striking out 10 times in a row to end the Angels series, Judge got some rest to begin the series in Houston on Monday. While Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said the reason he was out of the lineup was the tough stretch of games ahead of them, fans were hoping the rest would restart Judge’s offense.

The offensive highlight of Judge’s three games against Houston came in the ninth inning of Thursday’s game when he hit an RBI grounder for a fielder’s choice that drove in Aaron Hicks for the winning run.

Granted, Astros pitching is not the ideal way for a player to get going offensively, but the fact that Judge wasn’t getting on base with walks and was striking out at a high rate suggests how aggressive he was at the plate against Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers, Jr.—-as formidable a threesome as any in the league.

Judge and the Yankees are back in the Bronx tonight to face the Cleveland Indians and pitcher Josh Tomlin, who, according to MLB.com, has an 8.57 ERA in 21 career innings in Yankee Stadium. Tomlin has been struggling of late, giving up 10 home runs in 18 2/3 innings.

Yankee fans will be cheering for Judge to take advantage of Tomlin’s numbers in Yankee Stadium to break out of his funk and get his offense rolling again.

New York Yankees Win 4-0 Over Astros Behind Domingo German And Gary Sanchez Efforts

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On a night when Justin Verlander was dealing his usual filthy stuff, the Yankees offense was stifled for eight innings—Verlander tied his career high for strikeouts with 14—and Jordan Montgomery started the game only to leave with elbow tightness after the opening frame.

This scenario, Yankee fans, is not a recipe for success in Minute Maid Park, home of the World Champion Astros.

However, Verlander gave way to Ken Giles in the ninth, who started the day with an ERA of 1.00 and ended it with an ERA of 5.23 after Gary Sanchez tattooed him for the first runs of the game with a blast over the center field wall to score Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius.

Sanchez has been coming up big for the Yankees in clutch situations, as Coley Harvey of ESPN noted:

“This was the fifth time in eight games that Sanchez had homered. It also was the third time in the past six days that he hit a game-deciding home run. Sanchez had a walk-off against the Twins last Thursday, and also launched a 447-foot, two-run blast at Angel Stadium on Sunday that proved to be all the scoring the Yankees would need in that game.”

Sanchez, who’s gotten off to a slow start this spring, is picking up the pace in the last eight games and now has eight home runs and 27 RBIs on the season.

The relief corps, Domingo German (four innings), Chad Green, Dellin Betances, David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman (one inning each) held the Astros hitters overall to six hits with one walk and 13 strikeouts in the 4-0 victory.

German came in for the ailing Montgomery in the second inning.  He told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com:

German pitched a gem, matching Justin Verlander’s effort to keep runs off the board.  German pitched four scoreless innings with four hits, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts.

After the game, Boone told Mike Mazzeo of the New York Daily News that:

“You got a glimpse of what he’s capable of,” Boone said of German. “He went through them pretty easily. He was really on top of his game, and that’s what we needed.”

German may have just pitched himself into the starting rotation with his effort on Tuesday night if Jordan Montgomery is forced to miss starts because of the elbow tightness.

So, going into game three tonight, the series is split with one win for each club and with Luis Severino and Dallas Keuchel on the mound tonight, it’s sure to be another dogfight.

Didi Gregorius Outpacing The Yankees Power Hitters

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New York Yankees, Didi Gregorius

It’s time to acknowledge the roar that is coming off the bat of Sir Didi Gregorius. Gregorius, 26, has become an offensive juggernaut in the first month of the season, outpacing the other big bats not only in the Yankees lineup but also in the league in several categories.

In 2017, Gregorius hit 25 home runs after missing the first month of the season due to injury.  He’s showing fans in 2018 what they missed with a display of power that is out-rivaling the league—only Mike Trout has more home runs with 10. Gregorious with his eight home runs is tied for second place with Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Charlie Blackmon and Mitch Haniger.

However, Gregorius claims he’s not a home run hitter and told Meredith Marakovits of YES:

We’re 22 games into the season and the Yankees home run leader is not Aaron Judge nor Giancarlo Stanton, it’s not even Gary Sanchez—Gregorius leads the team with eight home runs, one in front of Judge who has seven.

Gregorius’ numbers to date are career numbers for him: .347/.442/.787 with seven doubles, eight home runs, and a team leading 27 RBIs.

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While Yankee fans have long known what an underrated shortstop Gregorius was, MLB.com ranked Gregorius the number five shortstop in the league in 2018, behind (shown with current stats):

Gregorius is far out-pacing these league leaders in nearly every category on the young season.  Carlos Correa, who is second behind Gregorius in batting average, has only half the home runs Gregorius has on the season.

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Katie Sharp tweeted regarding Gregorius’ record-setting power numbers:

What we’ve got here Yankee fans is the best shortstop in baseball and he’s showing a lineup of power hitters how it’s done.

Fans are clamoring for Gregorius to be named the team captain on the strength of his breakout performance this season, and if he continues to set records and power his way through the league, who’s to say he shouldn’t be? Especially if the Yankees can capture a championship this season.

 

New York Yankees: Bombs And Brawls In Fenway Win

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Wednesday night’s display of bombs and brawn will be hard to top in Thursday’s action between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, who are locked in a heated three game series tied at 1-1 at Fenway Park.

The game on Wednesday featured Gary Sanchez busting out of his slump with two homers and a double, a first inning drubbing of David Price, who left the game with “sensations” in his hand—-wonder if the Yankee bats (which put up 4 runs on 3 hits with a homer) had something to do with that—- and two, count ‘em two, bench-clearing brawls.

Apparently Aaron Judge was just waiting for Boston to get hot as he’s been on base six out of eight plate appearances in Fenway, with a home run off Chris Sale and a .348 batting average.

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Masahiro Tanaka continued to be plagued by the long ball and was the second Yankee pitcher in as many days to give up a grand slam to the Red Sox, this time from the bat of J.D. Martinez. Still, he was the winning pitcher at the end of the day, the beneficiary of the big bats igniting the offense: Judge was 2-4 with a walk, Giancarlo Stanton 2-5 with three RBIs and Sanchez was 3-5, with the two homers and a double.

What to expect from the rubber game of the series today?

First of all suspensions—at least of Tyler Austin and Boston’s Joe Kelly, but what about CC Sabathia and Aaron Judge?

Secondly, with Sonny Gray on the mound for the Yankees, expect to see Andrew Benintendi back in the lineup for the Red Sox as he’s batting .667 off Gray with a home run. J.D. Martinez, Hanley Ramirez and Mitch Moreland have all homered off Gray in their careers.

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According to MLB.com, Gray is 1-4 with a 4.93 ERA in six career starts against Boston, and he is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in three starts at Fenway Park.

While last season, Gray suffered from a lack of run support in his starts after coming over to the Yankees from the Oakland Athletics, Yankee fans can only hope today that the offensive juggernaut that was kick-started by Sanchez in last night’s game will be in full force again.

Rick Porcello matches up against Gray today. Porcello won his first two games of the season and is off to a hot start, but he is 8-8 in his career against the Yankees with a 3.27 ERA.

Porcello, the 2016 Cy Young Award winner, is a ground ball pitcher, relying on a sinking two-seam fastball (90 mph), a four seam fastball (91-93 mph), a circle change up (80 mph) and a curveball (upper 70s mph). Among current Yankees, Brett Gardner has had the most success in his career against Porcello, going 14-46 with two homers and a .304 average.

Look for the game to once again be a highly combustible affair with plenty of offensive fireworks, especially now that Judge, Stanton and Sanchez all appear to be swinging hot bats.

Yankees Bench Players Come Up Big In Series Against The Orioles

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Saturday, April 7, is the day I officially became a Ronald Torreyes fan. After years of just admiring him for his versatility and wit, it was his bat in the weekend series with the Baltimore Orioles that finally won my heart.

Saturday was a day where New York Yankees‘ Giancarlo Stanton walked twice and Aaron Judge merely doubled in a pair off of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman, but the offense was largely produced by players like Brett Gardner, Jace Peterson, Torreyes and Austin Romine.

While the heavy hitters were largely quiet on Saturday, Gardner and the bench players provided plenty of offensive punch in the 8-3 victory.

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Gardner reached base in all five plate appearances against Tillman on Saturday and scored a run.  He is the spark plug for this offense and is batting .238/.347/.704 in 42 at-bats. Gardy noted to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com that due to injuries:

“Our depth has been tested a little bit, but we do have good depth. We’ll be all right.”

And the depth proved him correct all weekend.

Peterson had a disappointing spring at the plate, but coming up from Scranton to bolster the roster on Saturday, he made impact plays in the field as well as at the plate going 1-3 with an important hit to continue a rally in the sixth inning of Saturday’s win. On Sunday, Peterson went 2-6 with one strike out in the 8-7 loss, for a .333/.400/.333 line for the weekend.

 

Romine, who was in for the resting Gary Sanchez, singled and scored on Saturday, picking up one RBI.  On Sunday, Romine was an offensive juggernaut, going 3-5 with 3 RBIs.  Romine is batting .400/.438/.400 on the young season.

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Ronald Torreyes, who is the most versatile player on the team, played a solid game at second base for the under-the-weather Tyler Wade and went 3-4 out of the nine hole on Saturday. On Sunday, Torreyes went 1-3 with a double and one RBI.  He’s batting .357/.357/.500 in 14 at-bats off the bench this season.

I’m all in on Torreyes, whose contact with the ball is refreshing when the big guns are not firing. The big guns did not fire over the weekend, and no home runs accounted for the 8 runs in the game on Saturday.

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The sluggish start to the season that Stanton, Judge and Sanchez have all experienced to one degree or another, was picked up by the consistent good at-bats off the bench during the Orioles’ series. As Gardner said, the depth was tested a little this weekend, and it passed with flying colors.

New York Yankees: The Ellsbury Effect

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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…

With the start of the Major League regular season a week away, the New York Yankees have a decision that needs to be made:

Who is making the roster to replace the oft injured Jacoby Ellsbury? Jacoby was at one time and six hours North of the Bronx a very productive Major League ballplayer. However, throughout his time in the pinstripes, Ellsbury has been less than a shell of his former self.

Ellsbury has played for the Yankees across four seasons, in that time he has only managed to have one season above “replacement level” production (2014), according to Baseball Reference’s OPS+. 2014 was Jacoby’s first season in the Bronx and his last truly productive season.

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Now, with Ellsbury set to begin the season on the shelf, this opens up a spot on the 25-man roster to “Break Camp” with the team heading North. Manager Aaron Boone told members of the media that Tyler Wade has made the ball club. Many believe that he will be the starting second baseman on Opening Day in Toronto on March 29th.

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The Yankees current roster consists of:

Catchers: Gary Sanchez & Austin Romine
First Baseman: Greg Bird
Second Basemen: Tyler Wade & Neil Walker
Third Baseman: Brandon Drury
Shortstop: Didi Gregorius & Ronald Torreyes
Left Fielder: Brett Gardner
Center Fielder: Aaron Hicks
Right Fielders: Aaron Judge & Giancarlo Stanton
Starting Pitcher: Luis Severino, Mashiro Tanaka, CC Sabathia, Sonny Gray & Jordan Montgomery
Relief Pitchers: David Robertson, Dellin Betances, Tommy Kahnle, Chad Green, Adam Warren & Chasen Shreve
Closer: Aroldis Chapman

Who Gets A Shot ?

That gives you 24 out of 25 players to start out the 2018 season for the New York Yankees. The injury to Ellsbury leaves an opening. Some who have thought that it could have been someone like Tyler Austin who was having a tremendous Spring, but he was reassigned back to Minor League camp on March 21st before the Yankees game against the Orioles. This however does leave the opening for the starter in the same game…. Luis Cessa.

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Cessa has been up and down for the Yankees since his acquisition by the Yankees in December of 2015. Cessa has pitched 106 innings for the Yankees to the tune of a 4.49 era. Luis will have an opportunity to show what he has earlier in the season as the Yankees will have five straight games to open up the start of the regular season.

The injury to Ellsbury could have been the golden ticket to the Bronx for a premium talent like Clint Frazier, however, they both went down at similar times and have stayed out recovering. Clint won’t be getting that opportunity.

This season will be a defining point for Clint Frazier, as with the number of outfielders already on the Major League roster and an impending free agent who hasn’t been shy about stating his fandom for the Pinstripes looming. Frazier once healed up from his concussion must set the world by storm, if he has any hopes of staying in Pinstripes.

Lasting Impression:

Jacoby, much like Clint Frazier, has seen the writing on the wall. And while his contract is rather cumbersome, it’s not impossible to think GM Brian Cashman can sell his talents to another team and move his monetary obligations elsewhere.

Ellsbury’s injury will be a foreshadowing of the potential future the Yankees will have. If the first few weeks of the season pass and Ellsbury has not returned vying that 25th spot on the roster, he may be replaced by a rising prospect.

Jacoby Ellsbury will have a major effect on the Yankees success this season; when healthy he could be a productive fourth outfielder, if unhealthy his spot will provide the launching pad for the top prospects in the top sixth farm system in all of baseball.

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