Mike Tauchman

New York Yankees: Mike Tauchman Continues To Lead The Way

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Mike Tauchman, New York Yankees

It just doesn’t make sense.

New York Yankees outfielder Mike Tauchman is on some tear, and is now the one leading the team in the season of the injury.

Monday’s win over the Orioles was just another example of his dominance of late. He went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three runs driven in. Fellow outfielder Brett Gardner also went 3-for-4 in that game with a home run.

His average is now beginning to sneak up to .300 (.294 after Monday), and has nine home runs and 34 RBIs on the year. He had just two RBIs in his career prior to becoming a Yankee.

Tauchman also has the best slugging percentage on the team at .541 (Tulowitzki actually has a higher slugging, but had 11 whole at-bats so he doesn’t count).

The Astros Of Offense

Yankee fans can’t give the Astros crap for getting bad pitchers and turning them into studs, because the Yankees do the same thing with batters.

Guys like Tauchman, Luke Voit, Gio Urshela, and Breyvic Valera from out of the organization, and guys like Thairo Estrada, Mike Ford, and Tyler Wade from within have impacted this years team.

Guys without much major league experience are coming up to the Yankees and hitting the cover off the ball, and other teams can’t stop them. The Yankees have so much depth, and the injuries don’t seem to matter because no matter who is in the lineup, the Yankees keep winning. For example, Austin Romine has been raking ever since he was tagged as the starting catcher with Gary Sanchez injured.

The Yankees just need to keep playing the way they are, and soon the reinforcements will be back and the team should have a lot of options on who to use on the playoff roster.

New York Yankees: Cameron Maybin Begins Rehab With A Bang

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New York Yankees, Cameron Maybin

New York Yankees outfielder Cameron Maybin began his rehab assignment on Tuesday, and he got it off with a bang. He went 4-for-5 with a home run and a double. His home run was a solo shot.

On Wednesday, he went 0-for-2 but drew a walk before being removed. He led off in both games.

Because of the severity of his calf strain, Maybin will likely be in rehab for a bit longer before getting called up. But the question is, will Maybin be done in pinstripes?

A Tough Decision Looms

Mike Tauchman has been red hot. His average is around .270 and sits at about .400 since he was called up again. He is relatively fast and also has a solid glove and is proving to be an overall better option than Frazier.

But do the Yankees send Tauchman down when Maybin is ready? Or do they try and find a way to hold onto Maybin and keep Tauchman in the MLB?

I think that the Yankees should keep Tauchman in the majors and DFA Maybin. I really like Maybin, but Tauchman is playing great and by the looks of it, the scouting department has found another diamond in the rough.

By DFA’ing Maybin, you still technically have a shot at retaining him, but the chances are that he will be claimed very quickly.

Another potential option could be to try and involve Maybin in a trade package for pitching in a hope to possibly hold onto prospects like Clint Frazier of Deivi Garcia.

Or, the Yankees could just try to have 13 position players again and have only 12 pitchers.

Once Maybin is completely ready, the Yankees will be forced to make more tough decisions.

Will the New York Yankees really trade Clint Frazier?

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New York Yankees, Clint Frazier

Are the New York Yankees willing to trade Clint Frazier for a pitcher?

If the New York Yankees realistically want a quality pitcher with control to help the rotation, they will likely have to part ways with the offensive-minded Clint Frazier.

Frazier, who was demoted to the minor league’s due to his below-average defense, has been playing well in Triple-A, however, he could be utilized as trade bait given the value he currently holds. The Yankees have been linked to several pitching options including Marcus Stroman, Madison Bumgarner, Trevor Bauer, Mike Minor and others, but the expectation is that they will require a pretty penny.

Stroman has been heavily linked to the Yanks, currently having a solid season with a 3.06 ERA. Inconsistencies throughout his career have driven down his price-tag, but the success he’s having in 2019 will force the Bombers to give up a decent player if not multiple prospects.

The elevation of reserve options like Mike Tauchman and Cameron Maybin makes Frazier irrelevant to a degree, and keeping him in the minors for the extended future is essentially just wasting away his talent. Adding a pitcher with his value could be worth more to the current team that Frazier’s influence down the road.

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Prior to being designated for assignment, Clint was hitting .283 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs on the season. He also recorded three errors and had a fielding percentage of .950. In the event that the Yanks trade Frazier, the importance of Tauchman instantly increases. He’s been on a hot streak as of late and will be a frequent flyer on the starting team. His success helps justify trading Frazier at the end of the day.

New York Yankees: Stanton Out For Significant Time Again

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When talking to the media after the initial injury, New York Yankees skipper Aaron Boone said that Giancarlo Stanton was day-to-day with a knee sprain. A day later, Stanton went on the IL. A day after that, we heard that Stanton will be out for a month and some.

The impact

Taking Stanton out of the lineup takes away a lot of power, and it forces Aaron Judge to have to step up more. He’s fresh off the IL and there’s no better time than now to get hot.

For the meantime, the Yankees have recalled Mike Tauchman for the London Series against the Red Sox. With odd field dimensions, 330 feet down the lines and 385 feet to center, the Yankees want a better defensive outfielder for the two games.

Once the team returns to New York on Tuesday to face the Mets in Queens, it’s expected that the team will be recalling Clint Frazier for a better bat. With Gardner in left, Hicks in center, and Judge in left, Frazier will have limited defensive opportunities and will DH. Most of his opportunities would likely be in left rather than right, and Frazier has been better in left.

The Stanton injury is nothing the team can’t handle. They’ve dealt with injuries all year, and it’s just another one to get over. Once he is healthy again, the team needs to keep him healthy for the postseason.

New York Yankees: Aaron Judge Heating Up

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New York Yankees, Aaron Judge

New York Yankees star outfielder Aaron Judge finally took a step in the right direction on the field in Wednesday’s 8-7 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Linden, California native came back from his oblique injury starting off 2-for-13, but went 3-for-5 in the series finale against Toronto.

Judge drove in two runs on a two run single in his second at-bat of the day.

Even more important that he stays hot

With Giancarlo Stanton heading back to the IL with a knee sprain, it’s even more crucial that Judge keeps hitting.

To replace Stanton, the team is recalling Mike Tauchman from AAA, and not Clint Frazier for a variety of reasons: they want Frazier to get more playing time, and they want to correct his behavior.

Let’s be honest here, Mike Tauchman stinks. He stinks, big time. He’s bat .215 this season, and is just a slower version of Tyler Wade that plays outfield.

Tauchman isn’t going to produce much, so it puts even more pressure on Judge to preform, as well as Brett Gardner who will be back to a temporary starting role.

But, the good news is that Stanton should only be back for a few weeks. We just need to find a way to keep him healthy.

New York Yankees: Kendrys Morales To The IL

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The New York Yankees have traded for Kendrys Morales.

The New York Yankees announced that Kendrys Morales was placed on the IL with a calf strain. Additionally, Mike Tauchman and Nestor Cortes Jr. were called up to fill empty roster spots.

Morales

We aren’t really sure why Morales is on the IL, but we can guess that he injured it sometime during game one of the doubleheader with the Mets.

Morales has been awful for the Yankees. He has the lowest average on the team at .194, and has played terrible defense. All of that adds up to a -0.8 WAR.

Let’s Tauch About It! (Look, Another Crummy Mike Tauchman Joke)

Mike Tauchman is back in the bigs after some time in AAA, and is reappearing in his hometown of Chicago. Tauchman has a .211 average in 95 major league at-bats, and is batting .296 with AAA Scranton.

The Yankees also recalled Nestor Cortes Jr, but he’s been a frequent rider on the Scranton Shuttle of late.

While Morales is down, the Yankees will be rolling with an extra outfielder. Doing so gives more playing time to their all-star infield, while hopefully taking Clint Frazier out of the field more to work on his defense.

Now is probably a good place to state that Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit, Gleyber Torres, DJ LeMahieu, and Gio Urshela will all be all-stars if they continue to get votes at the rate they are now. If voting ended today, Sanchez and Voit would be starters, too. (Vote here)

But, the injury of Kendrys Morales has no negative impact for the Yankees. If anything, it just helps the Yankees, getting him and his sub .200 average out of the lineup.

New York Yankees: Aaron Hicks Activated, Loaisiga To The IL

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New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks

Prior to Monday evening’s scheduled game against the Baltimore Orioles (weather dependent), the New York Yankees announced a series of roster movements. Aaron Hicks was activated from the IL, and Mike Tauchman was sent to AAA. Additionally, Jonathan Loaisiga was placed on the IL, and Chance Adams was recalled from AAA.

Healthy Hicks

Aaron Hicks is healthy and ready to go on Monday. He is batting leadoff and playing center. Hicks picked up three hits, including a home run in his final rehab game on Saturday for Scranton. He was scheduled to play Sunday as well, however that game was rained out.

As expected, Mike Tauchman was sent to AAA as the corresponding move for Hicks. Tauchman, bat .213 over 89 at-bats for the Yankees. He drove in 12 runs and went yard four times. Tauchman also drove in the Yankees first run in the team’s 7-1 victory over the Rays on Sunday with a double off the wall in center. He now joins the likes of Tyler Wade, Mike Ford, and Nestor Cortes Jr. as recent travelers on the “Scranton Shuttle”

Down goes Loaisiga

Jonathan Loaisiga was expected to pitch on Monday against the Orioles, but was placed on the 10-day IL with a shoulder strain. Instead, Luis Cessa will “start” Monday, and team called up Chance Adams and is in the bullpen. I quote the word “start” because it may be possible the Yankees are doing a bullpen game.

Hopefully, they don’t have to deal with this for very long and Paxton can be back soon. He resumed baseball activities just days after he was injured, so hopefully he can be on the mound again soon.

New York Yankees: Aaron Hicks Should Be Ready This Weekend

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New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks

The New York Yankees believe that centerfielder Aaron Hicks should be ready to be activated this weekend.

Hicks, 29, hasn’t played at all this season. He was placed on the IL during spring training due to back issues.

Last season, Hicks hit .248 with 27 home runs and 79 RBIs. In 2017, Hicks bat .266.

In three games with the Tampa Tarpons, Hicks is 0-for-11, but nobody is really concerned. Most times, players struggle in their rehab assignments just because they are rusty and are used to faster pitching with pitches that have even more break.

Who will depart?

We believe that it will most likely be Mike Tauchman who departs, going to AAA on the next “Scranton Shuttle”.

Tauchman was acquired from the Rockies in the final week of Spring Training. He has a .203 average with 11 RBIs and four home runs in his time as a Yankee, starting a good portion of games thus far. Most of his time was spent in left-field. If he does indeed go down, Brett Gardner can shift back to left to make room for Hicks in center.

It’s unlikely that it would be Cameron Maybin to go, his average sits at .321 and is a seasoned outfielder, in the big-leagues since 2007.

It’s great news that players are beginning to get healthy again, and the Yankee lineup is finally not looking like a Railriders lineup. Giancarlo Stanton should be the next Yankee to return, hopefully in a few weeks.

With Players Beginning to Return, the New York Yankees Face Tough Decisions

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New York Yankees, Aaron Hicks

The New York Yankees faced and are still facing an injury crisis, but soon a lot of their stars will be back. However, it will likely be three outfielders to return next. How will the Yankees work this out? Also, once Didi Gregorius comes back, which infielder will go?

The decisions:

Clint Frazier will be returning from a brief IL stint on Monday, and the Yankees sent Stephen Tarpley down for the corresponding move. But, Tarpley isn’t an outfielder, he’s a pitcher.

Tyler Wade has currently been playing the outfield, but I believe that he will begin to play the infield again. People thought for sure though that Mike Tauchman would go once Frazier returns, but Aaron Boone has confirmed that his time as a Yankee has not expired just yet.

Once Aaron Hicks returns in ~10 days, it will certainly be Tauchman’s time to go. A .176 average ain’t gonna cut it in the MLB, especially with Cameron Maybin hitting .333 while playing good defense. Maybin will 100% stay over Tauchman. Maybin is a proven outfielder with a lot of MLB experience.

But once Giancarlo Stanton returns, sometime shortly after Hicks, it will likely be Maybin’s time to go. They may be able to trade Maybin and get some cash or a prospect, because he deserves a spot on a MLB team, but won’t have one with a healthy Yankee squad.

Didi will begin his rehab assignment in a few weeks, and once he returns it will either be Tyler Wade’s or Gio Urshela’s time to go. Didi should be on the active roster in about a month or so.

I think that it should be Wade that goes because, well, Urshela has outplayed him in almost every aspect. Wade is a great base-runner and is very aggressive, but Urshela is more defensively sound and boasts a .338 batting average.

Wade just hasn’t proven himself enough to maintain a spot on a healthy roster, and needs to hit better to spend more time in the MLB. He is also beginning to run low on minor league options, so that could potentially be a problem in the near future.

And once you remove Wade, Gleyber can shift back to second and DJ can be the utility man the Yankees wanted.

Once more players become healthy, the Yankees will face several tough roster decisions. But, Brian Cashman doesn’t make very many bad decisions and you should trust that he will continue to make the right ones.

New York Yankees Lose To Diamondbacks Despite Out-Hitting Them

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New York Yankees, Brett Gardner

The New York Yankees only allowed five hits, but it was enough for the Diamondbacks to hold off a late Yankee rally and win, 3-2.

Voit does it again

Luke Voit hit another home run to lead the limited Yankee offense on Wednesday. His home run was a 398 foot shot to left for his ninth of the season. This came in the sixth inning, and put the Yankees on the board.

Mike Tauchman was responsible for scoring the second and final run, an RBI single in the eighth to make it a 3-2 game.

Gardner, Sanchez, Torres, Urshela, and Maybin also had hits for the Yankees. Nobody had multiple hits, but Voit, Tauchman, and Maybin each reached multiple times. Voit’s on-base streak was extended to 41 games.

A short afternoon for Tanaka

Masahiro Tanaka was a bit off on Wednesday, and with the NL rules only lasted four innings. Mike Ford pinch-hit for him in the fifth, and drew a walk.

Tanaka allowed five hits and three runs over four innings, striking out six. He walked one and gave up one home run.

Tanaka got three ground-balls and three fly-balls, also getting first pitch strikes to 12 of the 18 batters he faced. He also got 11 swings and misses, which is really good for four innings.

But now, Tanaka can get a bit of rest for his home start in about a week. A short outing Wednesday added with two off-days this week will help him in the long run.

The bullpen stepped up

The bullpen had a really good showing on Wednesday in relief of Tanaka. They didn’t allow a hit over four innings.

Luis Cessa pitched the fifth and sixth, walking one and picking up three strikeouts. Cessa is an entirely different pitcher than last year, which is very helpful with all of the injuries.

Tommy Kahnle and Adam Ottavino each followed with 1-2-3 innings. Kahnle is also having a great year so far. His velocity is back, and he is looking like he did in 2017. I just wish that Aaron Boone would pitch him in higher leverage situations.

After an off-day on Thursday, the Yankees head home to take on the 17-10 Minnesota Twins in a 7:05PM start. As usual, the game will be televised on YES and Fox Sports Go.  James Paxton (3-2, 3.38 ERA) gets the ball for the Yankees against Kyle Gibson (2-0, 4.88 ERA) of the Twins. Gibson has won his last two starts, both against Baltimore.