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Yankees’ Gio Urshela back on field today, Boone expects Urshela to be activated Tuesday

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New York Yankees, Gio Urshela

New York Yankees’ third basemen Gio Urshela has been on the 10-day injured list since September 4 with a bone spur in his right elbow. Manager Aaron Boone suggested on Thursday that he expected Urshela to be activated on Tuesday which means we could possibly see him back in the lineup by late next week.

After finding out that Urshela had no other issues beyond the bone spur, the club believes that this will just be a short IL stint and Urshela will be back to playing games once the ten days are up.

The 28-year-old is a big part of the Yankees’ lineup and especially the defense. He’s currently batting .272 on the year with six home runs and 23 runs batted in.

Miguel Andujar has been taking Urshela’s role in the lineup and DJ LeMahieu has been covering third base in the meantime.

Other key players that are struggling to stay off the injured list are Aaron Judge (calf), Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring), James Paxton (forearm), and Jonathan Loaisiga (undisclosed). Right-handed pitcher Luis Severino and reliever Tommy Kahnle are both out for the remainder of the year dealing with their own injuries. Gary Sanchez

The Yanks are no stranger to injuries, having set an MLB record the season prior for most players ever put on the injured list. It was especially important this season to avoid this same issue, however, the Yankees have found themselves in the same boat.

The Yankees will begin a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday where it’ll also be a doubleheader. Gerrit Cole is expected to pitch the first game.

Yankees win last game of series vs. Blue Jays, Garcia picks up first MLB win, post game quotes

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New York Yankees, Deivi Garcia

The New York Yankees snapped their five-game losing streak tonight with a big win against the Toronto Blue Jays. Deivi Garcia threw really well for the team as he also picked up his first career MLB win.

“I wanted to attack them, that’s what the plan was,” Garcia said following his outing. “They hit a couple of balls there very well and for me, it was to stay firm out there and remain calm.”

Garcia went the distance for the Yanks, throwing seven complete innings allowing two runs on five hits. He ended his night with 95 pitches, fanning six batters during the outing.

Manager Aaron Boone was pleased with the way the team played tonight. “A lot of good things (tonight),” Boone said following the game. “Deivi going out and actually getting us deep into the game was huge. There were more good at-bats, we were able to cash in obviously tonight. A few homers to kinda get us going and some really good add on runs there to kinda put the game away.”

Boone spoke on Garcia’s outing some more saying, “He’s (Garcia) just got such good feel out there and mound presence. The ability as a young pitcher to just kinda add and subtract with his fastball, getting creative and going a little more with his slider that third time through the order. He just demonstrated a really good feel for pitching.”

Clint Frazier talked about the team’s “vibe” following the game, “It’s really loud right now (in the clubhouse). I think they’re actually about to turn the music down because it’s so loud, but everyone is excited because we wanted this moment the last couple days and to get it tonight, we’re definitely celebrating.”

Gleyber Torres had a big game for the Yanks tonight being responsible for four of the seven runs the Yankees scored. He went 2-5 with a solo home run, a double that knocked in Hicks and Voit, then a fielders choice that scored Hicks again.

“The most important thing for us is to be focused, be together, and work hard to win,” Torres said. “We had a really good game tonight.”

The Yankees will try to carry this positivity into tomorrow where they’ll begin a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.

New York Yankees make big change ahead of Wednesday’s game, activate youth agenda

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New York Yankees, Deivi Garcia

The New York Yankees have recalled right-handed pitcher Deivi Garcia back up from the alternate site to start in Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays. After dropping the first two games of a three-game set to the Blue Jays and losing five in a row, the team is going to need a big turn around beginning immediately.

The Yanks are currently relying on Gerrit Cole, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, and Jordan Montgomery for a four-man rotation. With Luis Severino and Domingo German gone for this year, the team has to rely on younger guys too. Several players, including Garcia, have made their MLB debuts this season due to the absence of some key players.

Garcia has started two games this season, holding a 0-1 record and a 3.38 ERA. His most recent start which was on September 4, Garcia lasted 4.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on five hits and one home run. His start prior to that game, Garcia pitched really well allowing no earned runs over six innings pitched while fanning six batters.

It’s obvious that the Yankee rotation hasn’t gotten the job done recently. Garcia has had a lot come with his name from scouting reports over the last several years, so the Yankees looking to turn things around this young talent isn’t a surprise.

After starting the season 16-6 and seeming like they wouldn’t lose a series all year, the New York Yankees have lost 12 out of their 17 games and have fallen to 21-21. This series against the Blue Jays and the one prior to the Baltimore Orioles really hurt them as they fell deep in the standings.

Tonight’s first pitch in Buffalo will be at 6:37 PM.

Things could be shaking behind scenes for Yankees as Brian Cashman travels to Buffalo to check in

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The one thing that couldn’t happen during this shortened season was to fall into a void of a long losing streak. The New York Yankees have figured out a way to do more than that. After starting the season with a strong 16-6 record, the Yankees have lost their last 12 out of 17 and are now 21-21.

After dropping the first two games of a three-game set to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Yankees have put themselves at real danger of falling out of playoff contention if they continue the way they are playing. They’re currently sitting in third place of the AL East, three games behind the Jays, and just one game up on the Baltimore Orioles.

You know the club has hit a rough patch when fans have to check the score of the Orioles games each night.

General manager Brian Cashman made a rare trip up to Buffalo to watch the team take on the Blue Jays. Unfortunately, so far he hasn’t seen the best from his team.

Manager Aaron Boone has been on the hot seat as of recently because of the team’s drought. “I know we are better than that, but we have not played to our capabilities,” Boone said following Tuesday night’s loss against the Blue Jays. “Obviously the last couple weeks have been a rough stretch to get us to that point. So, we still have time here to turn this thing around and I’m confident we will.”

The Yankees are having major trouble with staying consistent. Every night it’s either they have a great offense and no pitching support, or vise versa. Some blame can be pointed to the team’s injuries, however the bullpen (except for the absence of Tommy Kahnle) is at full strength. The reality is, these high-leverage guys have not gotten the job done. The same goes for the lineup. The absence of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gio Urshela, are all major hits on the offense. However, DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit, Gary Sanchez, and Gleyber Torres are all still in there.

The Yanks are going to need to turn things around immediately if they want a shot at a good seeding in the playoffs. The Tampa Bay Rays and the Blue Jays seem to not be slowing down anytime soon, so a quick turnaround for the Yanks is crucial.

New York Yankees lose a tight one to Blue Jays, drop second game of series

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New York Yankees, Miguel Andujar

The New York Yankees have now fallen to .500 after losing the second game of a three-game series to the Toronto Blue Jays. Despite having a great outing by J.A. Happ, the Yankees offense was flat all game. The Yanks have now lost five games in a row, losing 12 out of their last 17 games.

There wasn’t much scoring done tonight on either side. The Blue Jays scored their only two runs with a home run from Jonathan Davis which Statcast estimated it was 411 feet.

The Yankees scored their lone run on a Mike Tauchman sacrifice fly to left field which knocked in Luke Voit.

J.A. Happ had a great outing tonight, going the distance pitching 6.1 innings with ten strikeouts, only allowing the two runs on the Davis home run. Besides the one mistake to Davis, he had his stuff all night and was getting a ton of swing-and-misses. It’s unfortunate that Happ picked up the loss tonight especially with how powerful the Yankee lineup should be.

Right-hander Taijuan Walker started the game for the Blue Jays where he went four complete innings pitched, only allowing two hits while striking out three. The Jays relied mostly on their bullpen this game using four guys to finish off the remaining five innings.

Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone talked about the team being .500, “I know we are better than that, but we have not played to our capabilities. Obviously the last couple weeks have been a rough stretch to get us to that point. So, we still have time here to turn this thing around and I’m confident we will.”

The New York Yankees’ record drops to 21-21 after starting the season 16-6. They are sitting in third place for the AL East, three games behind the Blue Jays, and only one game up on the Baltimore Orioles. The Blue Jays advance to a 24-18 record on the season.

New York Yankees: Injury update on Judge, Stanton

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New York Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge

New York Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone provided some insight on sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton and their possible timetables from their injuries.

Giancarlo Stanton has been doing baseball activities and started running up to about 80 percent, Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media reported. According to Boone, “Giancarlo has had a really good several days. Think he ran some bases (Friday). Kind of half-speed running. He’s up to about 80 percent running. He’s been doing a lot of baseball activities as far as hitting off the high-velocity machine, throwing. So he’s probably, possibly a little head of Judgey.”

Stanton has been on the injured list since August 9th with an injured left hamstring.

Aaron Judge was placed back on the Injured List with a calf injury on August 28th. Recently, he’s begun ramping up baseball activities and appears to be progressing well. Boone spoke on this saying, “He’s had a couple of good days and started to ramp up a little bit. I think Monday we’ll start the real progression as far as a lot of baseball activities, more aggressive with some of the running and the buildup.”

Both Stanton and Judge seem to be progressing well which is some of the better news the New York Yankees have had recently. After dropping three out of four games to the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees have hit a low spot of the season. They need to figure things out soon and having these two sluggers back in the lineup will obviously be huge for the team. Fingers crossed both Stanton and Judge will be back soon and healthy.

New York Yankees get crushed by Blue Jays, drop first game of series

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New York Yankees, Gleyber Torres

What should have been a close game between two good slugging teams, the Toronto Blue Jays capitalized on a ten-run inning to beat the New York Yankees to take game one of a three-game series.

The Yankees took an early lead against left-hander Hyun Jin Ryu when Luke Voit and Aaron Hicks hit back-to-back bombs in the first inning. Hicks’ homer went 401 feet and Voit’s went 387 feet.

This lead would be short-lived for the Yankees as in the bottom of the first inning, first basemen Rowdy Tellez would double to right field which knocked in Cavan Biggio. The following inning, Santiago Espinal singled to center field which knocked in Travis Shaw to tie the game.

The Yankees would win the next three innings, with a Miguel Andujar home run, a Clint Frazier double which would score two, and a walk by Aaron Hicks that would knock in a run.

It would all go downhill from there for the Yankees.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Blue Jays would score 10 runs to take a 12-6 lead. Catcher Danny Jansen would top off the inning with a grand slam that pretty much shut the door.

A Yankee rally was unsuccessful except for a lone run scored by Miguel Andujar in the top of the ninth inning.

The New York Yankees would drop to 21-20 and sit at third place in the AL East standings. The Toronto Blue Jays improve their record to 23-18 and sit 2.5 games ahead of the Yanks at second place for the AL East.

There weren’t many positive things for the Bombers in this game except to see that Luke Voit is still swinging it well and Clarke Schmidt looked good on the mound. The Yankees are going to need to turn things around soon if they want to get out of the hole they’re currently in. If the playoffs started today, they would have the eight seed and would have to play the Tampa Bay Rays in the first round.

New York Yankees: Analyzing Clint Frazier’s jump from last season

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New York Yankees, Clint Frazier

New York Yankees’ right-fielder Clint Frazier has been up and down from triple-A to the big leagues several times over the past few years. This should never happen again.

There’s an argument about last season and why Frazier was sent down. However, it’s clear that the 25-year-old has made some major changes to his game and has proven he should always be on the big league roster.

Frazier has played in 16 games so far this season and is currently batting .294 with four home runs and 12 runs batted in. Compared to last season, it’s evident that Frazier is having better and more competitive at-bats. According to FanGraphs, Frazier’s 0-Swing% (percentage of pitches a batter at swings outside the zone) has dropped from 25.0% to 20.8% from last season to this year. His Z-Contact% (percentage of times a batter makes contact with the ball when swinging at pitches inside the zone) increased from 82.7% to 89.7%.

Another thing to note about Frazier’s at-bats is he’s having fewer swing-and-misses. His outs all seem to be hard hit balls, rather than weak contact. This is because of how he swings the bat. Take a look:

He limited his load this season which makes his swing shorter. Frazier has enough raw power that he doesn’t need a big load to hit the ball a long way. Limiting his movement before the pitch is delivered allows him to adjust if needed. His barrel is in the zone for so long and his quick hands are a reason why he has a ton of hard contact.

There is also a clear difference with Frazier’s defense this season. Everyone remembers the Red Sox game last year where he botched three balls, which was also streamed on ESPN for Sunday Night Baseball. This season, it’s evident that Frazier wants a different reputation in right field.

There is no reason why Frazier should ever be sent down to the alternate site this season. Even if he’s not a starter, he’s a great option off the bench for a pitch hit position or an offensive adjustment. Let’s be real, Frazier would start on 25/30 of the MLB teams, so there’s no reason to keep him down.

New York Yankees: Biggest takeaways from Deivi Garcia debut

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New York Yankees, Deivi Garcia

The New York Yankees called up right-hander Deivi Garcia to make his MLB debut against the New York Mets and he did not disappoint. After being in the minors for just four seasons, Garcia showed promise that he can hang in the big leagues.

Throwing six full innings while allowing four hits and no earned runs, Garcia fanned six and walked none. The 21-year-old is known for his high spin rate fastball and curveball, which he dazzled during his outing.

One of the biggest concerns scouts had with Garcia was with his control and constantly falling behind in the count. Today, Garcia did the exact opposite. He threw just 75 pitches during those six innings and 51 of them were strikes.

Garcia retired the first nine batters he saw and kept the Mets’ offense on their heels all day. One of the biggest reasons why Garcia was able to have so much success was the way he releases the ball. His mechanics hide the ball until the very lasts second which makes the time shorter for the hitter to pick up the ball. This makes a 92-93MPH fastball almost look 95-96MPH. While watching his outing, Garcia was beating a lot of hitters on the inner half to the plate, which proves they were late on his fastball.

A little history was made today by Garcia as well, as he is the youngest pitcher in MLB history to record 6+ strikeouts with 0 BB and 0 ER in his debut start (minimum five innings pitched).

I think New York Yankees fans can expect to see more of Deivi Garcia this season. The Yankees rotation still isn’t where they want it to be, and unless Brian Cashman goes out and snags a big arm in a huge trade, the Yankees will take whatever they can get.

The bombers extended their record to 19-13 which places them in second place for the AL East behind the Tampa Bay Rays. The next game will be against the Rays, which will be the beginning of a three-game series.

New York Yankees: Aaron Boone stands with The Players Alliance to donate salary

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New York Yankees, Aaron boone

New York Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone posted on Instagram Friday morning that he will be joining The Players Alliance by donating his salary to the organization for the days of August 27th and 28th, which is also Jackie Robinson Day. This will go to supporting the Players Alliance’s efforts to combat racial inequality and aid the Black families and communities who have been affected in the wake of recent events.

The Players Alliance’s goal that is on their website reads:

“We are more than 100 black current and former professional baseball players, united to use our collective voice and platform to create increased opportunities for the black community in every aspect of our game and beyond.”

Boone is not the only one from the New York Yankees’ organization that is in support of the movement. Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, and Giancarlo Stanton are also apart of the Players Alliance. Other current MLB stars such as Mookie Betts, George Springer, Marcus Stroman, Jordan Hicks, Howie Kendrick, and Khris Davis are apart of the organization. Former MLB star Tony Gywnn also stands with The Players Alliance.

From the work of a total of 124 current and former MLB players, $41.7 million dollars has been donated to black communities due to the efforts by the organization. Their website is https://theplayersalliance.com/, where you can find out more about the organization and donation links.