#aaron-judge

#aaron-judge

The Red Sox and Yankees face again for another weekend series, but this time at Fenway Park.Boston can move to .500 with a win over New York, which has been inconsistent without Aaron Judge.The Red Sox hope a series win over the Bronx Bombers can get them back on track as manager Alex Cora has tried to work out the details with his roster.

The Yankees have shown a real affinity for lightning-in-a-bottle left-handed-hitting minor league depth signings, last year successfully with Matt Carpenter and this year less successfully with others like Franchy Cordero.It makes sense - sign guys who are known commodities and hope they figure something out or catch fire for a short stretch while the starters return from injury.

The Yankees were off Monday night, licking their wounds from a pretty tough week.After losing Aaron Judge and then series to the White and Red Sox, hopefully they used the day off to hit a reset button and will come out swinging against the Mets tonight.With no ability to personally make up ground in the AL East, they had to rely on a little bit of help around the league.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa had a rough first year in pinstripes.A lightning rod for criticism and the the fanbase's primary hate vessel, IKF garnered the ire of fans because of a laundry list of honestly unfair reasons.First, the Yankees opted for a stopgap shortstop instead of signing one of the numerous elite free agents available at the position that winter.

Good afternoon everyone, it's time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions.Remember to send in your questions for our weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.Bovine Opinions asks: If Aaron Judge's foot needs to be amputated, what do they do to acquire a RF?

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball.Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged-in New York Yankees fans, and fans across the country.Sign up here to join Reacts.The Yankees have had a rather eventful season, and we're only 70 games in.With so many injuries, the roster has seen plenty of different names and faces, and while some of those players have come in and produced well, the biggest focal point of the season is how the regulars are producing.

The Yankees are eight games above .500,and more or less have stayed afloat and played .500ball since Aaron Judge got hurt.Still, even in that context, last night had a rock-bottom type feel to it, with the club getting smoked by their archrivals, who also happen to be a last-place team.Hopefully, Friday in Boston will prove to be rock bottom, but there could be more tough times ahead, with Judge still with no timetable to return.

FanGraphs | Michael Baumann: You know, after the lockout, I was hoping that we were going to have a moratorium on Rob Manfred taking up headlines, but well, here we are again.While speaking to the media at the owners' meetings this week, the head lackey of MLB's money hoarders put his foot in his mouth on a number of issues.

Wednesday will feature several big-name starting pitchers taking the mound for their respective teams.While that might make runs difficult to come by for some teams, others find themselves with favorable positions to score in bunches.Let's dive into which pitchers and hitters to consider on Yahoo.Pitchers
Clayton Kershaw ($55) is about as good as it gets when he pitches at home.

Here are five things to watch as the Yankees take on the Red Sox in the Bronx this weekend... 1.Through the haze
The New York City area has been in a haze this week due to smoke from wildfires up in Canada.The Yankees played through it in Tuesday's series opener against the White Sox, a 3-2 loss, but Wednesday's game was postponed due to the deteriorating air quality in the area.

MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Randy Vásquez earned his first major league win with his stellar 5.2-inning scoreless outing against the Chicago White Sox.Allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out three batters, the 24-year-old right-hander showed the kind of stuff he can bring in his second-ever outing on an MLB mound.

Red Sox COMMENTARYBrayan Bello, Tanner Houck, and Garrett Whitlock were all impressive in their starts at Yankee Stadium over the weekend.If you think you don't like the Yankees, ask one of their fans how they feel about them.I'm hardly the only person to point this out, but it was striking to read each side of the rivalry shouting the same thing this weekend: We need depth.

Red Sox "I think the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is probably the best in sports."The rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankee s has lost some of its fastball over the last few years.Just don't tell that to former Red Sox star Mookie Betts."I think the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is probably the best in sports," Betts told Yankees OF Aaron Judge during Bleacher Report's "On Base With Mookie Betts" last week.

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees last squared off for an on-field brawl back in 2018.At the time, Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts was still in a Red Sox uniform and Boston was at the starting point of its soon-to-be World Series-winning run.But before that, the Red Sox needed to assemble their 108-win campaign, one that included an eventful night in April at Fenway Park, which Betts looked back on.

The Red Sox drew first blood at Yankee Stadium, and they can win the three-game series Saturday.Boston gave Gerrit Cole his first loss of the 2023 season as Garrett Whitlock and the bullpen helped get the Red Sox back on track.They will turn to Tanner Houck against a New York Yankees lineup that is searching for answers without Aaron Judge.

NJ.com | Max Goodman: When the Mets walked the Yankees off on Wednesday night, Nick Ramirez was on the mound.That Ramirez was in to pitch the tenth inning, and Albert Abreu in to pitch the ninth before him, highlights a potential concern as we head toward the dog days of summer.The Yankee bullpen has been outstanding in 2023, but key pieces like Wandy Peralta, Clay Holmes, and Michael King are all on pace to set career highs in appearances and innings pitched.

At this time on Tuesday, I was fully prepared to write the case for Anthony Volpe to be optioned to Scranton, work on his swing decisions in a lower stakes environment, and target a return to the big league team after 50 or so games with the Railriders.I can still probably make that argument, that that's best for his long term development, but with Hal Steinbrenner, Aaron Boone and the rest of the Yankee brain trust coming out and saying that Volpe is the guy and won't be optioned, we must focus on what is, not what we wish to be.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball.Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in New York Yankees fans and fans across the country.Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.With Anthony Rizzo in a deep slump and both Aaron Judge and Harrison Bader out of the lineup with injuries, the Yankees' lineup has really been scuffling over the past week.

Sports Illustrated | Matthew Postins: Anthony Volpe may have graduated from the prospect rankings this season, but the Yankees still have a few top prospects to go around.Familiar names made it onto the latest MLB top 100 list, with Oswald Peraza and Jasson Domínguez landing at 57 and 58 respectively, while catcher Austin Wells snuck in at 93. Peraza himself is close to graduating from the list and has been tearing up Triple-A, so it's only a matter of time until Domínguez reigns alone as the organization's top prospect.

It is very strange that it has taken so long in 2023 for us to get the first edition of Yankees vs. Red Sox.For the record, I'm not complaining.These games always feel extra stressful for all parties involved, and 19 times is just too many against one opponent.I was a big fan of MLB balancing the schedule a little bit more, and another huge change for 2023 is sure to have an impact on these showdowns too: the pitch clock.

The resurgence of J.D. Martinez has been one of the best and most unlikely stories of the season for the Dodgers.The team took a flier on him this offseason, signing the 35-year-old to a one-year, $10 million contract after his production dipped during his last year with the Boston Red Sox, where he made four All-Star Game appearances over five years with the team.

With Aaron Judge sidelined, the Yankees are looking for offense in every corner of their roster.Let's think about their search for offense through the lens of our This Week in Statcast series, taking a look at a few batted balls from the past week to see what they might unearth and how the Yankees could proceed.

Neither New York team is in the position they'd like to be at this point in the year, with the Yankees third and Mets fourth in their respective divisions.While it looked for a couple weeks like we might get a neo-1998 home run chase between Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso, both players now find themselves on the IL.

Baseball Prospectus | Daniel R. Epstein (subscription required): Anthony Volpe's season started off on a promising enough note; however, the rookie shortstop is going through some growing pains of late.He leads the team by a substantial margin with 77 strikeouts and is last among qualified hitters with a 68 DRC+ (BP's version of wRC+).

The Yankees have been far from impressive of late.Their recent homestand saw them lose series to the White and Red Sox, with the offense in particular falling flat without Aaron Judge around.The Captain may be out of commission for weeks to come still, so someone (or ideally, a few people) needs to step up in his absence.

Welcome to another episode of Podument Park; please leave your socks at the door as they are not welcome on this podcast.As we saw during Aaron Judge's first stint on the injured list earlier this year, this team has a tough time winning games, scoring runs, or convincing us that they're actually living human beings when he's not around.

The latest edition of the Subway Series was already looking a little lackluster: The Mets (31-35) are not having nearly as good a season as the Yankees (38-29).But then the series experienced a huge power outage: Aaron Judge (toe) and Pete Alonso (wrist), who are leading their respective leagues in home runs, will both miss the series with injuries.

Say what you will about the Aaron Judge-sized hole in the Yankees ' lineup currently, but the rest of the team has a lot of slack to pull and its showing of late.A homestand against two underperforming teams led to consecutive series losses, made even more frustrating by the fact that the pitching gave them every opportunity to win most of the games that they dropped (sorry Sevy, but you dropped the ball comparatively).

Working with almost no margin for error with a sidelined Aaron Judge and an ice-cold Anthony Rizzo, a late-game defensive miscue from Gleyber Torres cost the Yankees the lead, and ultimately the game.The Red Sox took this rubber match in 10 innings, 3-2, in the third low-scoring game in as many nights.

The turnaround of Willie Calhoun has been entertaining to watch.While many of his star teammates have made trips to the injured list for various reasons, he has stayed on the field.In fact, he has even hit in the middle of the lineup and performed well!Don't get me wrong, it has been weird to see him batting fourth and fifth on a team with multiple hitters on Hall-of-Fame tracks.

I was on recap duty last night as well in addition to editing, so I'm not going to fully rehash everything.But boy, was that a frustrating L that the Yankees could have won if things were going better right now.Alas, that is not the universe we're living in and it turned into a one-run loss.The Yankees rarely seem to click without Aaron Judge, but they're going to have to figure something because I don't think this toe injury is going to be as quick a turnaround as the hip strain earlier in 2023.

Who are the 2023 New York Yankees?That is a question I have been asking myself since the season began.Over 60 games into the season and I am still lacking clarity.Maybe it is less about my indecision and more about what the Yankees have provided on the field.As you parse through the intricacies of this season you find a mixed bag of results, and maybe that's just what the Yankees are.

With Aaron Judge going on the injured list yesterday, the Yankees needed to find someone to replace him on the active roster.Enter Billy McKinney, the once-Top 100 prospect who has bounced all around MLB. Currently playing in Triple-A and performing very well with a .274/.388/.511triple slash and a wRC+ of 127, the 28-year-old McKinney has earned another shot in the major leagues.

The Yankees dropped the first game of today's twin bill 6-5, their second one-run loss in as many games.With a largely-untested rookie on the mound and a volatile offense without Aaron Judge, they'll face an uphill battle in an attempt to salvage their series against the White Sox in the nightcap of the doubleheader.

Last night, MLB postponed the White Sox- Yankees game because of the horrific air quality due to the Canadian wildfires.However, today improved enough to play and squeeze in a straight doubleheader.The alternative was probably to make up these games in August when the Yankees come to Chicago, but I'll take this Aaron Judge-free option instead.

After yesterday's game was postponed due to unhealthy smoke conditions in New York caused by massive wildfires in Quebec, the White Sox and Yankees are going to try to get in two games today, as a straight doubleheader.The air was still smoke-filled this morning, but the forecast calls for a wind change to southerly, which should clear the air, at least literally.

Historically poor air quality conditions in the Northeast forced MLB to postpone yesterday's contest against the White Sox, meaning the Yankees will play back-to-back games this afternoon to decide the winner of the series.With Aaron Judge on the IL with a toe contusion/sprain, perhaps the added rest day is just what the depleted offense needs - they sure looked far off the pace in the series opener, getting no-hit by Lucas Giolito into until the Chicago bullpen lost it in the seventh inning.