We have reached the All-Star break in Major League Baseball. Nothing worse than 4 days without a Yankees’ game. It is, however, a good time to take a look at the team and see where it is at and where it is heading the rest of the way. So let’s dive in and take a look at the Bronx Bombers as they hit the Mid-Summer Classic.
At the ceremonial midpoint of the season the Yankees are in second place in the AL East, two games behind the Toronto Blue Jays. They are the Number 1 team in the Wild Card Standings. In my Yankees preview I said I thought the AL East was going to be a slobber knocker with all five teams competing for the divisional crown. It didn’t look like it was going to go that way when the Yanks got off to a hot start and at one point had the biggest divisional lead in the Majors. However, a couple of 6 game losing streaks and some very hot play from the Blue Jays and Red Sox has bunched everyone up again. Even the Orioles have been playing much better of late, however, they have probably dug themselves too big a hole of which to climb out. Coming out of the break the Jays, Yanks, Sox and Rays are all withing 6 games of each other and the division could go to any of them.
The story of the first half for the Yankees has been the pitching. As it goes, so goes the Yankees. When the Bombers were getting great pitching in April and May, they were running away with the division. In June, however, the pitching fell a bit apart and the team struggled to win games. The starting pitching has been pretty solid throughout. Fried has been a Cy Young candidate all season and has filled in beautifully for Gerritt Cole as the Ace of the staff. Carlos Rodon added a changeup to his arsenal and can now get righties out with regularity. He pitched well enough to not only be their number two guy but he also made the All-Star team. Can you imagine this rotation in the playoffs if Cole was healthy?!? Clarke Schmidt was having another impressive season until he blew out his UCL and was lost for the season. It seems health issues are going to mar this kid’s career. And, of course, Marcus Strowman still sucks.
The big development this season has been Will Warren’s performance. I am very glad to say this kid is proving me wrong. I really didn’t see it in him when he was called up last year and struggled. He has been very good this season and is showing his potential. His ERA is a little high, 4.63, but he has given up a lot of runs while sitting on the bench. In other words, the bullpen has let a lot of his inherited runners score. He does have 112 Ks in only 95.1 innings. Hopefully he’s not a finished product and can become even more effective as a starter.
Speaking of young starters, Luis Gil has started his rehab assignment. The Yankees say they are going to take their time with him as they really should. If the reigning AL Rookie of the Year can come back as the pitcher he was last season, it would be a great jolt to the rotation and the team.
The bullpen this season has been an absolute roller coaster ride so far with each member having their own series of ups and downs. One of the reasons I think this is, especially in July, is because they throw so many innings. It’s not the Yankees fault; it’s just the way the game is right now but starters not going 7 or 8 innings a start really taxes the bullpen. Hopefully this week off will recharge everyone for the stretch run. The guy the Yankees have making the bullpen calls doesn’t help either. Whether it’s Boone or someone else, who ever it is, they suck. The easiest example is bringing in Devin Williams in non-save situations when he’s the closer. He does not fare well in these situations so just don’t use him at that point. It’s really not that difficult yet they continue to screw it up. He is 13 for 14 in save situations. He has been fine as the closer. When you don’t need a closer, leave him in the bullpen.
Aside from not obeying the golden rule (thou shall not bring thy closer in in non-save situations), the bullpen has had breakdowns from the guys who are supposed to be dominate. Weaver has struggled since coming back from his injury and taken out of the closer role. Leiter has looked like he did last season before the play-offs lately. Hamilton has struggled. Loaisiga has shown flashes of his former self but has been inconsistent. I think they need to cut back on his usage and only use him in one inning at a time and probably not on back-to-back days. I know that limits the already worn-down bullpen but having him at his peak in small doses is much better than having his be mediocre a lot. And Tim Hill leads the league with a ridiculous 48 inherited runners scored. I mean, I was dumbfounded when I saw this stat. I thought it had to be wrong. He has made 45 appearances so far. That’s more than one run per appearance and you have to think there have been multiple times where he has come in with no one on base. Why on Earth do they keep bringing him in with men on base?! Clearly that needs to stop immediately. Maybe we are really lucky and the organization has taken this All-Star break to reevaluate how they use the bullpen and they will do a much better job of it in the second half. And Maybe I will start dating Shakira. I have a feeling the later has a much better chance of happening.
When the bullpen is going well, the Yankees win a lot of games. The starting pitching has been solid to great all season and the hitting has been equal to the task. The Bombers are 3rd in the Majors in runs scored. They are tied for 3rd in batting average, .002 points behind the leaders. They are 1st in Home Runs, tied for 3rd in Doubles, they are first in walks, and first in OPS. That’s pretty good, I would say.
Of course, the hitting is led by Aaron Judge. Judge slumped a bit in June only hitting .253. But he did have 9 home runs, 17 RBIs, a .388 OBP, and a .967 OPS. I wish the rest of the team would struggle like that. Obviously, he wasn’t going to hit .400 all season. There is a reason no one has done it in 84 years. So a drop off was expected. He has turned it around since the calendar turned to July. He hit .366 with 5 home runs, 5 doubles, and 14 RBIs so far this month. I mean, there really isn’t anything left to be said about how good Judge is, right?
As good as the Captain is, he’s not doing it alone. Cody Bellinger got off to a horrendous start in April but since then he has been everything the Yankees could have hoped for when they signed him. He hit .302 in both May and June and is hitting .360 in July. He has hit 13 homers and has 38 RBIs since April. In July he has a 1.033 OPS. Not to mention he has played outstanding defense at all three outfield positions and first base. He has been a great addition to the team.
Just like Judge, Paul Goldschmidt went into a slump in June. Only his slump was a real slump. After hitting well over .300 in the first two months, Goldschmidt hit just .143 in June with only 2 long balls and 4 RBIs. Also like Judge, Goldschmidt turned things around heading into the break. In July he’s hit .325 with 7 doubles. He is still hitting an impressive .402 against lefties. Before he turned things around there was an argument to be made that he and Rice, who is hitting .249 with 10 home runs against righties but can’t hit lefties, should platoon at first base. If Goldschmidt goes into another slump, it’s something they should consider.
Speaking of guys who can’t hit lefties, I give you Trent Grisham. I have to give Trent credit; he has sustained hit good hitting a lot longer than I thought he would. However, all of his production has come off of right-handed hitters. He’s hitting only .177 against south paws. I would so pump and dump this guy at the deadline. He’s a free agent at the end of the year and they have 3 outfielders that should play every day in Judge, Bellinger, and Dominguez. They can just use someone from AAA to be their 4th outfielder. They won’t do it because they love his defense and definitely will start using him to replace Dominguez at the end of playoff games. So he’s not going anywhere. But man, if someone offered them something useful or they could add him in a trade to get a really good player, they shouldn’t hesitate to move him.
The best development at the plate for the Yankees has been the growth and emergence of the Martian, Jasson Dominguez. Dominguez is finally becoming the player we all hoped he would be. His batting average has gone up every month of the season from .236 to .265 to .279 to .326 so far in July. He has started to hit a lot better as a right-handed hitter which makes him more valuable due to Grisham’s aforementioned struggles in that department. He is turning into a quintessential lead off hitter. He has long at bats. He sees 4.03 pitches per plate appearance which is 16th in the American League and he has a 10.7 walk percentage, which is 15th in the AL. And a lot of the guys ahead of him are guys that are being pitched around like Judge and Raleigh and Vladdy. So he is seeing a lot of pitches and he’s getting on base. This allows for everyone to see what the starting pitcher is featuring that day and it starts the process of getting his pitch count up. He also has a ton of speed and can not only go first to third or score form first on a double but he also has stolen 14 bases and only been caught twice. He hasn’t shown a ton of power yet but he definitely has pop. It’s a small sample size but he is batting .357 in the lead off spot with a .419 OBP and a 1.026 OPS. If they Yankees were smart, and that is a huge if, they would keep him in the lead off spot and bat Grisham, or I would prefer the Goldschmidt/Rice platoon, second so that the Martian can feel free to steal bases without opening up a base to walk Judge or running into an out with Judge at the plate. Plus it gives them 2 chances to get guys on base ahead of Judge giving him more chances to knock in runs.
This brings us to Jazz. Since returning to the line up from his IL stint, Jazz has been great. After his terrible April and missing March, Jazz has hit .307 since his return with 10 homer runs, 26 RBIs, and 7 doubles. Hopefully this is the Jazz we get the rest of the season. It’s a shame he couldn’t play 3rd base because of his shoulder but where ever he is on the field, his bat, his speed, and his energy and dare I say spunk, are a big part of the Yankees success.
Speaking of 3rd base, ask anyone what the Yankees biggest need is and they will probably tell you they need a third baseman. Well, I am not sure that is true. Don’t get me wrong, Peraza can not hit at all. Like really, he can’t hit. They Yankees would be better off doing a reverse DH and having the pitchers hit instead of him. Seriously though, he can’t hit. He can however, play third base. And he can play it very, very well. So here’s the thing, the Yankees really don’t need more offense. As I mentioned, The offense has been great. And yes, I realize I am saying this after they scored a total of 3 runs in their last two games heading into the break. But that’s a small sample size. Be fore that they scored (going backwards) 11, 6,9,10,6,6,5,5,9,5,4, and 12. They are scoring plenty of runs. The offense isn’t the problem. The problem most nights has been the pitching. Having a great fielding 3rd baseman will help that issue more than a great hitting one will. Plus, the Yankees could give Vivas a chance there, not that he has shown to be any better of a hitter in the Majors. Whom ever they play at third base can always be pinched hit for in the late innings if needed. And seeing as the Yankees will always have an extra outfielder and either Rice, Wells, or Giancarlo on the bench every game, they have plenty of pinch-hitting options. Sure, pinch hitting is harder than if you have been in the game all night but it’s still a very viable option.
What I am really saying here is that while the Yankees could use a 3rd baseman, especially a long-term solution there, they are not desperate for one and they should not give up major assets for one. A guy like Eugenio Suarez would be a nice rental for the rest of the season but I would not pay a high price for him. It’s just not a big enough need. If a couple of mid-level prospects gets it done, then sure. But I am not getting into a bidding war or paying a premium for him. And he’s 34 years old so maybe they could resign him to a one-year deal or something but even if that’s the case, I would not pay too much for him. Again, it’s just not a huge need. Save the high-end prospects for a pitcher (not Gallen) or a long-term 3rd base option. Or just keep them and see if they can help in the Bronx.
With that said, it brings us to another big topic. With the trading deadline fast approaching (Aug 1st), there has been a lot of talk on what the Yankees should do with their number two prospect, Spencer Jones. In case you haven’t heard, and I will get more into this in my next Prospects watch, Jones has been lighting it up as of late. He has been ridiculously good since being promoted to Triple A. So the debate is whether they should trade him for pitching and/or a 3rd baseman or keep him. I say, you keep him. You let him continue to (hopefully) rake in Scranton and then you call him up in September to give him a taste of the Big Leagues and he becomes your insurance policy if one of the outfielders gets injured. This offseason both Paul Goldschmidt and Trent Grisham are free agents. Let them both walk, move Bellinger to 1st base and have The Martian, Jones, and Judge as your outfield. When they want to sit one of them Bellinger can play the outfield and Rice can play first.
If the Yankees are going to trade him, you do not, and I can’t stress this enough, you do NOT trade him for a rental. Not a pitching rental, not a 3rd baseman rental or any combination of rentals. The only way I would trade him is if they get back an All-Star player with term. And I don’t see that happening.
Well, maybe I do. I’ll just throw this out there. It’s been reported that the Guardians are willing to move Emmanuel Clase. Now, I wouldn’t trade Jones for Clase. But it got me thinking. Clase is 27 years old and is under contract for next year and has 2 team options after that. He is not as dominate as he was before the Yankees lit him up in the play-offs but after a terrible start to the season he has found his game again. Over the last three months he has pitched 30 innings and given up 4 runs. My point here is this, why is Cleveland looking to move him? They are 3 games under .500 and have fallen to 12 games out of their division. I can understand them being sellers but Clase seems like someone they would want to hold on to if they were looking to turn things around next season. Are then planning on a rebuild? If so, well, are they willing to move Jose Ramirez? Ramirez loves Cleveland and, in the past, has indicated he doesn’t want to leave. He even avoided free agency and signed a team friendly long-term contract with them. But that was then. Now he is 32 years old. Is he looking to play out the back half of his career in a rebuild with little chance of ever winning a World Series? Would he be OK going to a contender now? If he has come around to this idea, he would be the perfect fit for the Yankees. He fixes their 3rd base issues and can be the Robin to Judge’s Batman. There are not a lot of good 3rd basemen in the league right now and all the good ones play for contenders. Except Ramirez. His value as a 3rd baseman would be worth giving up Jones for. And hell, can we get Clase in the deal as well? Obviously not straight up but I would give up a ton in that deal. Jones, and one of their top pitching prospects, a couple of prospects in the 10-15 range, a couple of low-level prospects, and we can even throw in Peraza to replace Ramirez at third. Imagine a lineup of Dominguez-Bellinger-Judge-Ramirez-Jazz-Stanton-Goldschmidt-Wells-Volpe. I guess we can dream, can’t we. But aside from a move of that caliber, I would hold on to Jones and have him set his sights on that short porch for the next 10 years.
The other position I think most Yankee fans would complain about after 3rd base is short stop. The fans are really starting to turn on Volpe. I am not. Yet. Here’s the thing with Volpe, he is still very productive even though he is struggling. And he is definitely struggling this season. Yet he is still a top producing short stop. He’s tied for 8th in the Majors among short stops for HRs. He’s 4th in RBIs, 3rd in doubles and tied for 1st in triples. You have to put it in perspective. There are not very many short stops in the league who are more productive than he is. And as with the 3rd baseman, those who are, aren’t going anywhere. He needs to hit better. He would really benefit from better pitch selection. I think he’s a guesser and well, he’s not very good at it. He needs a see the ball, hit the ball approach. He also would benefit from a two-strike approach. I wish he would learn from Bellinger and adopt his put it in play with two strikes strategy. Especially with Volpe’s speed he really should be a put it in play type of hitter.
Now, the thing with Volpe that is bothering me is that this season he has taken his struggles at the plate out with him into the field. Both on defense and the base paths. When he is a gold glove level short stop and a great base runner you can deal with the low bating average. He is still finding ways to help the team win. This season he has not played up to his usual levels. He is only 10 for 17 stealing bases. 7 caught stealings matches his career high. He has committed 11 erros but he’s on pace to commit 2 more than his career high, which he set when he won the Gold Glove. Some of his decision making has been questionable in the field as he sems to be trying to do too much to make up for his .214 average. But if you look at his numbers, he’s really on pace to be about as good as he was his rookie season. Obviously, you hope he’d improve but it’s not like he is terrible. Hopefully this week off will allow him to get away from baseball and clear his head and go back to being a difference maker on this team. It’s way too early to give up on a talented guy like Volpe. Unless Volpe and Jones can get you Witt Jr. I mean, KC sucks yet again, who knows?
That leaves Austin Wells. When you look at Well’s season compared to other catchers, he’s having a great year. Now, obviously, Cal Raleigh is on pace to have one of, if not the, best season by a catcher of all time and could easily win the AL MVP. But after him, Wells is right up there with everyone else. He’s 5th among catchers in Home Runs and He’s 3rd in RBIs. Sure, I wish his batting average was better than .226, but production wise he is as good as anyone behind the plate not called Big Dumper.
Then there is Aaron Boone. I am not going to get into all the issues I have with Boone. Mostly because he is not going anywhere so we just have to live with him and hope the team can over come him. Also, there is a lot of talk that a lot of the decisions you would think were up to the manager are actually not his call. I definitely don’t want to open that can of worms but I also don’t want to get on Boone for anything that is not his doing. So all I am going to say is whoever is running the Yankees is making a lot of decisions I do not agree with and they are making decisions that are costing the Yankees games and they need to let someone else start making those decisions.
So there you have it. The Bronx Bombers at the All-Star break. The Starting pitching has been mostly very good to great. The Bullpen has been up and down and is the team’s biggest issue, and the hitting has been excellent. Hopefully they can get and stay healthy, figure out the bullpen, grab some help at the deadline, and make another run at the World Series.
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