The Yankees have a double-header this afternoon after yesterday’s washout, and the team will make a handful of roster moves beforehand. A couple will be replacements for Luke Voit and Corey Kluber, who are headed to the injured list. Another will be the 27th man for today’s two games. In the meantime, here are some thoughts on where the Yankees go from here in light of yesterday’s news:
Another day, another injury. We already were waiting for the news on Corey Kluber’s MRI — it’s not good — but now, we’ve also come to find that Luke Voit has a grade 2 oblique strain. I had initially speculated that he was out of the lineup prior to postponement for paternity leave as his wife was scheduled for induced labor by Friday, but nope. Voit will return to the injured list after missing a good chunk of time already because of knee surgery.
I guess we will see more Mike Ford and perhaps Miguel Andújar at first. Or, more DJ LeMahieu at first base and Rougned Odor at second base. But what about Chris Gittens? Can’t envision a better chance for him. There’s no timetable for Voit yet, but figure it’s gonna be a while.
Meanwhile, Kluber has a subscap strain in his throwing shoulder. The righty didn’t sound too concerned about the tightness he felt in last night’s start, but now, he’ll be shut down for four weeks. That means he’ll also need another four weeks of build up, per Aaron Boone. Probably won’t be seeing Kluber until August at the earliest, and it absolutely sucks. He was pitching really well with the no-hitter being the high point. I know folks will point to the no-no being the root cause of the strain, but I doubt it. He only needed 101 pitches to throw those nine innings. He’s a late 30s pitcher with shoulder trouble already last year. It was the risk the Yankees decided to take, and it had looked like it was going to pay off in a major way until now.
So, expect to see Deivi García and Michael King duke it out for Kluber’s vacancy. Then, once Luis Severino returns (hopefully around the All Star break?), Sevy will jump in.
Is everyone having fun yet?
Last night was an absolute joy. No hitters may be commonplace in 2021, but there’s no discounting Corey Kluber’s brilliance in yesterday’s no-no against Texas. He faced one batter over the minimum and was incredibly efficient, needing just 101 pitches to complete the feat. The 35 year-old righty might not be the same pitcher he was in his heyday in Cleveland, but if last night (and other recent starts) is any indication, there’s clearly plenty left in the tank.
Kluber now has a 2.86 ERA in 9 starts and 50.1 innings pitched. And while that’s a better mark than his career ERA, the righty is pitching a bit differently than he did during his prime. Sure, the same basic toolkit is there: namely the Kluberball along with a sinker and cutter. However, he doesn’t throw quite as hard as he once did (not that he was a flamethrower). What’s more: he’s now featuring a changeup. Hmm, where have we heard that before?
Just when you thought this one was shaping up to be an ugly loss, Gio Urshela said: not so fast. His pinch hit three-run homer in the seventh gave the Yankees a 5-4 lead that the bullpen preserved. The win improves the Yankees to 21-17 on the season.
Really nice to get a win like this after a barrage of injury news prior to the game. Hopefully, we get better news about Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton over the weekend. In the meantime, here are the takeaways from tonight’s game.
A win’s a win. After standing absolutely no chance against Max Scherzer, Brad Hand blew the save. And he coughed up the lead again in the tenth, I might add. Same guy the Yankees beat in Game 2 of the Wild Card series last season. They’ve got his number.
The Yankees eventually won this one in 11 frames, 4-3. You read that right: the Yankees won a game in extra innings. Feels like they’ve lost a million frustrating ones already this season. To the takeaways:
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