4:30pm: It gets worse for the Yankees, as Boone has since said Kluber will miss at least eight weeks (via Jack Curry of YES Network). He’ll be shut down from throwing for four weeks and then will have to build up his arm strength for another four.
4:12pm: Yankees right-hander Corey Kluber has a sub-scapular strain in his rotator cuff and will miss at least four weeks, manager Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters. Meanwhile, first baseman Luke Voit has a Grade 2 oblique strain and will go on the 10-day injured list.
Kluber had to leave his start early on Tuesday as a result of this injury, which will at least put a temporary halt to what has been an outstanding season for the two-time American League Cy Young winner. After signing a one-year, $11MM contract with the Yankees in the offseason, Kluber has opened the year with 53 1/3 innings of 3.04 ERA ball, and he fired a no-hitter against Texas last week. It’s by far the best Kluber has looked since earlier in his career, which has been hampered by multiple injuries over the past few years. The former workhorse, 35, totaled just 35 2/3 innings in 2019, his last season with the Indians, because of a fractured forearm. And he was unable to bounce back last year as a member of the Rangers, with whom he threw one inning and was then shut down for good with a shoulder problem.
The loss of Kluber for at least two months (if not more) is obviously a significant blow to the Yankees’ rotation, which has been a strength during the team’s quality start. Ace Gerrit Cole, Domingo German and Jordan Montgomery have all pitched well, while Jameson Taillon’s peripherals are a lot more encouraging than his 5.06 ERA. The Yankees could also get back Luis Severino from Tommy John recovery sometime during the summer, but in the meantime, they’ll turn to Deivi Garcia to fill the last spot in their starting staff.
The loss of Voit is another troubling development for the Yankees, and it continues a difficult, injury-shortened campaign for him. After leading the majors with 22 home runs a season ago, he opened this year on the IL with a torn left meniscus that required surgery. Since he made his season debut in May, Voit has hit an uncharacteristically poor .182/.280/.250 with shockingly little power in 50 plate appearances. Voit has just one home run and a meager .068 ISO thus far. The Yankees seem likely to use Mike Ford and DJ LeMahieu at first base while Voit is absent.
In better news for the Yankees’ offense, slugger Giancarlo Stanton could come off the IL on Friday, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic was among those to report. Stanton, who has been out since May 14, slashed a superb .283/.347/.534 with nine homers in 144 PA before going down with a quad strain.
Gothamcityriddler
That’s just great!
mlbnyyfan
Kluber out 4-6 weeks at least. Wow and Voit too.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Well, hell.
It’s – ya know – not what you want.
But.
The turkey hunting shotgun pistol I ordered is in. This will add a new & exciting element to my grouse & waterfowl hunting. Figured we could all use some good news.
Pretty hard not to get excited about that, uh?
hd-electraglide
Is that the Thompson Center Arms .308 pistol. Nice!!!
Ducky Buckin Fent
Kauger Arms Tomahawk. .410. Bolt action. Lightweight. Compact & easily portable.
Sweet little sporting gun.
hd-electraglide
I’m a Benelli SBE II, and Super Vinci kinda guy myself.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Great guns.
A Browning Gold 10 & a Sweet 16 are my workhorses. October through April I hunt grouse, geese, & rabbits like it’s my job. No complaints & only high praise for those particular shotguns.
hd-electraglide
Agreed. Have a Browning Belgian Sweet 16. Have it retired in Browning Safe for now. Dove, Ducks and Deer my hobbies. Striper fishing when is can.
justacubsfan
I’m an m-16 guy myself. Well, i thought we were talking call of duty
Ducky Buckin Fent
Mine is one of the new one’s.
There were some issues with some of the earlier runs. But they are worked out. Weighs just over 5.5 lbs. You can carry it all day. I’ve run a lot of rounds through it, & it’s never behaved less than perfect.
Aside from spring black bear out west I don’t do any big game hunting anymore. Due to work, I don’t get to fish much, either.
The Mississippi is in my backyard. So I’ve been fly fishing for carp for a few years now. This old Polish guy in my neighborhood showed me a great recipe for smoking them. But that’s about all I get in besides blast & casts.
Have you taken up summer rock dove shooting? Pretty fun stuff.
hd-electraglide
Never have done that. Sounds fun. I’m Deep South bayou country guy. Never been big game hunting either. Nothing like the outdoors. How real men have fun!
Ducky Buckin Fent
I grew up hunting Upstate NY & in Maine with my grandpere (grandfather).
The Bayou is legendary waterfowling. Would like to experience it sometime. I’m in the Midwest now. Which is pretty good.
Go to any farm. They will be more than happy to let you cut into the rock dove (feral pigeon) population. I’ve been offered money more than once. I never take it. Though I do accept the bags & buckets of fresh produce.
Great way to stay sharp for both you & your dog. Love being outdoors. How I find my inner peace.
hd-electraglide
One of my experiences was pheasant hunting in Kansas / Nebraska. One trip, weather was about 5deg with 30 mph wind. Farmer came out to field and invited us in to his barn for a nip of his home made brew, everclear. One sip of that and we were coming out of the hunting coats, hats, etc. overall not a bad trip!
Ducky Buckin Fent
Yeah.
Gets cold up here.
Man, that sounds like a good trip. I make multiple trips to Nebraska every year (prairie grouse, winter geese, & starting this year Merriam turkey).
It’s an entire state of really good hearted, hard working, friendly people. I’d recommend the Sandhills for prairie chicken & sharp tails if you are ever able. Nothing like it.
hd-electraglide
One last thing, I’ve never done it but my nephew says Sandhill Crane hunting is one of his favorites, not to mention that he calls them “Rib Eye in the Sky”. Happy hunting, buddy.
Ducky Buckin Fent
The Dakota’s (in particular North) for cranes.
He is correct. Best eating game bird I know of. Gotta have a pretty tough dog to go get them though. They have blinded many dogs.
You too.
Catch ya next time.
brodie-bruce
@ducky damn dude tough break for you guys and i was pulling for klub, imo you guys won’t miss a beat yea it hurts but you guys find a way to win even with your a ball club.
Ducky Buckin Fent
What’s up, @brodie?
It stings. He was really looking good. & he’s an easy guy to root for.
Every team in baseball is banged up right now. I really wonder what teams are going to look like in September after more than twice as many games.
Fortunately/unfortunately the Yanks have a lot of experience getting by with a lot of firepower on the IL. I think we’ll muddle through. But these are a couple of pretty important players for our championship aspirations.
brodie-bruce
@ducky i get ya klub stings not to mention your of is banged up too, i think is the great equalizer is everyone is banged up right now. i feel if nyy stay within a few games of 1st by the deadline and hal and cash feel that this is a legit team they’ll blow past the tax line and make a move. as much as i dislike nyy i respect them and you can never count them out from making a blockbuster, i just think nyy waits for the right time to blow past the line unlike in years past.
FredMcGriff for the HOF
I don’t hunt and probably never will unless it’s a real end of the world apocalypse. I am a multiple firearm owner with plenty of ammo though. Just got a SM&P 15 I got over the winter. I just got my concealed carry and took my Sig P365XL on a test run.
Yankee Clipper
@Ducky, do you mind if I ask where in upstate NY? I have family up there…
Ducky Buckin Fent
@Clip
We spent much more time “wicked fahh downeast” Maine. But closest town when we went upstate was Saratoga.
nmendoza7
You need mental help
mlbnyyfan
Call up Gittens!!!
Gwynning's Anal Lover
Yes..we need Kittens
Joe says...
100% agree on Gittens!!!
SalaryCapMyth
100% agree on Kittens!!!
Eatdust666
Kittens are freaking amazing
BobGibsonFan
Who doesn’t like kittens?
Al Hirschen
Two weeks earlier the Yankees would have signed Albert Pujols
Cap & Crunch
Pujols has been a great asset the last 2 weeks
Al Hirschen
Now is the time to play Gary Sanchez every day at first base
Baseball dude
Sure, who wouldn’t was a strikeout machine playing everyday!!
Baseball dude
Sure, who wouldn’t want a super strikeout machine playing everyday!!
Ducky Buckin Fent
If at first you don’t succeed…
Yankee Clipper
Gleyber was leading the league in DRS… at SS! Sanchez doesn’t look bad behind the plate, and shows glimpses of his 16-17 hitting prowess, and Judge/Stanton destroying the ball at nearly every turn.
Seems the deeper into the season we go, excluding the ever pervasive and ubiquitous injury plague, the Yankees are demonstrating their progressing dominance. Kluber pushed himself too hard, probably in the no-no; but he will be back and we know he’s top-tier when he returns – a solid #2.
yankeeempire123
Sanchez is not an option at any position. Maybe we can bundle him to get Gallo. Call up Gittens.
brodie-bruce
@yankeeempire123 gallo isn’t your answer tbh i’d rather have a good contact to on base guy that a feast or famine guy like gallo. gallo is better served on a team that needs some pop, not a team that already has pop.
Yankee Clipper
I’m inclined to agree Brodie. IF they were to pursue someone on TX, I’d suggest Nick Solak, who they drafted in ‘16(?). He’s got pop, hits for a bit better average, quicker, and more versatile.
I am not asserting the opinion that Yankees need either, just opining on which, IF they believe they needed the addition and the Rangers were their target trade team.
WiffleBall
I own a firearm for emergency home protection but I don’t hunt or thump my chest about the guns I own because I’m an actual grown adult who is not insecure about his manhood or sexuality. And i’m not a complete p***y.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Hey, @WiffleBall.
Haven’t seen you in awhile.
That was pretty much my fault. Started as an aside in which I was trying to be light hearted.
Didn’t know it would lead to another of my long off topic forays.
When wingshooters run into each other we can get a little spirited talking about our shotguns (or dogs or boats too!) & swapping stories.
For real. @electraglide & I could have easily gone on for dozens & dozens of more posts.
Didn’t intend for it to be chest thumperingish (not sure it was?). & I too am secure about my manhood & sexuality. They also certainly tax me at a “grown adult” rate. So that implies adulthood to me, uh?
Apologies if I offended you.
FredMcGriff for the HOF
I like you Ducky. Even if your a Yankees fan. Didn’t you say you are in Minnesota now? Do you follow the Twins? I don’t mind the hunting/fishing comments. I have plent of “adult”friends who pay there taxes and are into the same scene. For the record I’ve never had the patience to fish but even then I’m a catch and release guy..
Ducky Buckin Fent
Merci, @McGriff
Ever run into you at the pub, first round on me.
I hear what you’re saying. Yanks have been so good for so long that we’ve pissed off a lot of fan bases.
Don’t follow the Twins much.
Never really got into any of the teams out here.
Fly fishing is a little more action filled.
Anyway.
Stay up. Catch ya later.
evilempire28
Bring up Deivi Garcia
Curly Was The Smart Stooge
The IL bloodbath continues-just incredible
hyraxwithaflamethrower
In fairness, given Kluber’s recent injury history, it was a big risk when he was signed that this would happen. Not happy about it, but it’s not like this is out of the blue.
bravesfan0618
Don’t see this as good for yankee’s. Seems they were just getting things together and putting some winning streaks together. They need Voit in that lineup. Kluber has been pitching good following Cole. Cole brings out the old Kluber. Nice to see him pitching again, he’s good for the game.
Ancient Pistol
As a Yankee fan I’m not as depressed as I would normally be considering almost all teams are facing significant injuries in some way. It seems there is a potential that if this trend continues the teams who face injuries earlier may have an advantage over teams who get these injuries late.
YankeesBleacherCreature
That’s fine and all but players do get re-injured over the course of a season. Starters staying healthy is only advantage.
Ancient Pistol
My comment is in the context of this season since injuries seem worse than normal.
Orel Saxhiser
Twice as many non-COVID IL trips than in either 2018 or ’19, with no end in sight. It has become a difficult season to watch.
YankeesBleacherCreature
It is and there is no denying that.
brodie-bruce
@cey and ybc imo (and this opinion is based on conjecture) i think we are seeing such an increase on injuries based on players ramping up to hard in the offseason to get ready for the season. imo i think players need to take more time off in the offseason and let there bodies heal. most of the machines we make are based on us, and no matter how well built a machine is if you run it 110%+ all the time it’s going to blow. the human body is no different i feel that we often forget we need to shut our bodies down from time to time to recover and heal.
Orel Saxhiser
brodle-bruce,
Agree 100%. A shorter season with longer spring training might have served these players better. During a Mets game last week, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling were talking about how players had too much time to spend working out alone as opposed to playing in games. That plays into what you’re saying. When the season ended, they likely spent even more time working out to make up for all those missed games. If anything, they should have had actual baseball training in the winter, including playing in games. When the season is over, there will be a lot of finger-pointing as to why this happened.
brodie-bruce
@cey imo i think this extends even before 2020, to me it feels like the offseason is when players really start working and the season is when you take “time off” . before anyone wants to fire off on me i’m not saying players are not giving 100+ during the season i think there putting in 200+ in the offseason for various reasons like contracts or a young kid that’s hot and your the old guy or other reasons that fit that i cannot think of. also again this is just one fan of the game coming up with logically reasoning, i have no real evidence that this is what most players are doing but if anyone has a better argument why guys are getting hurt i would love to hear it.
tigerlillypond
Cynical take: No PED testing during the off-season. Gotta get them gains sometime.
Gwynning's Anal Lover
Claim Shelby Miller. It would be like the Bizzaro Superman version of Corey Kluber!
Joe says...
Not surprised about Voit. He’s been swinging out of his shoes at the plate since he came off the IL.
Ancient Pistol
Yes. It seems he either A). trying to make up for lost time, B) trying to show his value to the team both in monetary value and as an important asset, or C) both.
YankeesBleacherCreature
He had torn up his bilateral core area in 2019 requiring surgery so I do wonder if that bears any significance. I don’t see Voit’s hitting approach any different than that of past imo.
Joe says...
Yes, he has always swung hard but he looks out of control to me. It’s like he’s trying three homers at once and not making any contact.
yankeeempire123
10 day IL-sure. The injury takes a long time to heal. We won’t see him until late July.
tigerlillypond
Not sure why they don’t 6o day him to make roster room. Yankees have to give up on these overly optimistic timelines. They’re lying to themselves more than anything at this point.
Yankee Clipper
@Joe: Very astutely noted. I think he sees Judge and Stanton (IL time excluded) crushing the ball and is trying to match. The thing is, Judge and Stanton have both finally settled down and just taken their contact shots. The results with their power are clearly incredible. There’s no need for the home run attempt. Line drives for them result in Xtra bases and homers anyway.
Voit is very similar. If he settles for contact the home runs will come, and the OPS will skyrocket.
Dustyslambchops23
It’s wild to me the yanks doing so well with their offense struggling so much
Orel Saxhiser
Leadership in the dugout. They don’t panic. Give some credit to the manager some fans want to see fired. Setting the tone is an underrated aspect of managing. The Yankees have the right guy in that regard.
Dustyslambchops23
Intangibles aside they are winning games on the backs of their arms which was not what any one was expecting
Orel Saxhiser
A good sign because it’s likely the bats will come around. The pitching has bought Cashman some time in trying to figure things out. You can bet he’s constantly talking to other teams as he looks ahead to the July deadline. But for now, they are okay. Finding out Kluber has something left in the tank has been a good thing.
Dorothy_Mantooth
Isn’t it funny how there are no longer any “fans” on here calling for Boone or Cashman to get fired? Winning a few games really changes people’s attitudes. True baseball fans knew this Yankees team was good and they’d eventually get things straightened out. Unless they lose Cole, Yankees are definitely a wild card playoff team if not a division winner even with these injuries. That’s the beauty in a 162 game season.
Wait…looks like Ducky still wants Boone gone. At least he’s consistent.
Joe says...
@Dorothy.. Ducky ain’t wrong. Boone isn’t a very good manager. They need to get Buck Showalter out the YES studio and back in the dugout.
I am now, and have always been a fan of Cashman.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Oh, man.
I would take Showalter in a heartbeat.
But I think he would probably disobey the front office edicts too much. I’m just pretty underwhelmed by Boone.
I’m good with Cashman too.
johnsilver
Until they don’t get to the WS yet again and every NY’er and ALL the NY media demands ownership fire everyone from the GM down to the batboy.. It’s same old story out of NY every offseason.
Ancient Pistol
It IS surprising the Yankees have scored the fewest runs in the division matching the Os.
Ducky Buckin Fent
& I don’t think Boone has anything to do with how well we have been playing. The Yanks are a noticeably worse fundamental ballclub (defense, base running, etc) than we were under Joe G.
I am tempted to say it also appears we don’t play with the same level of intensity. Though, that’s a judgement call.
Ancient Pistol
I agree. They don’t have a bad attitude and I think that comes from Boone who is a nice guy. They need to play with a chip on their shoulder.
Ducky Buckin Fent
I decided I would give Boone at least 2 years until I made any judgements of how he is doing.
We are well past that point.
We were better under Girardi. Boone had the savages rant…& what else? We could do better. I am now firmly convinced of that. But, Cash got his yes man. No one will ever mock his personnel decisions again by starting Romine at first over Kris Karter, for example.
Make no mistake. This is Brian Cashman’s team through & through.
dasit
the perception that fundamentals have slipped post-girardi may have to do with torres and frazier being posada-level dumb on the bases. a few game-changing blunders can make things seem worse than they are. the yankees also replaced guys who played with obvious “passion” (cc & dd) with guys who are less emotional (djlm) so that might fake us into thinking they’re playing with less effort. in any case, if you’d told me in january that we’d get 10 good starts out of kluber i might have taken it
Ducky Buckin Fent
I here what you’re saying.
To me, the wretched defense is really puzzling.
Most of the players are the same. Swap Didi for DJ. Should be about equal. We went from being in the top half defensively to bottom three. I put that squarely on Boone.
& I don’t think Joe G would have tolerated all that Really Dumb Stuff on the bases. Some of the things we do are just mind boggling to see at the big league level.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Plus Joe G would’ve never approved Sanchez’ *new* one-knee down approach. He would’ve been moved to 1B already or gone.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Perhaps.
Interestingly enough, Sanchez played really well for Girardi. The front office whisper/excuse was that he didn’t “relate well to younger players”.
Which is BS. In ’17 our young players thrived under him. Cash wanted a puppet. He got one.
whyhayzee
Almost all of the yankee position players are not home grown but have been acquired. Teams are probably more willing to deal players with low baseball IQ and that might be some of their problem. So few of their players have come through their system that they have lost that part of grooming a player and understanding their limitations. The days of Jeter, Bernie, et al are gone.
YankeesBleacherCreature
@why Their recent draft positions may have something to do with it hence big spending on the int’l market. Jeter & Co. were drafted when the Yankees were terrible.
Dorothy_Mantooth
The lack of fundamentals falls on the shoulders of the players and position managers, not Boone. This isn’t Little League; these guys are supposed to be the best in the world at what they do. If Cashman brought in guys who are all bat and no glove, Boone can do very little to change that. Do you expect him to hit fungos to the players before every game? It’s time to start holding the players accountable and not blame everything on the manager.
Yankee Clipper
@Ducky: I don’t mind Boone; he’s…. meh. But, Bucky Showalter? Absofreakinglutely!
brodie-bruce
@all nyy fans as someone that has a distaste (still respect them even if i don’t care for them) i never liked the boone hiring he is a “yes man”, and add in the fact he took a nyy team in 17 that most thought was a 83~87 team and iirc won 90+ and the division, then came 1 game away from the ws pushing hou to 7 games. it seems with boone the nyy have gotten slightly worse year after year. i feel if nyy still had joe g or another manger that knows how to manage nyy would have a ws by now. it’s my personal opinion that fo guys should do fo stuff and player acquisition, and mangers mange the players on the field and the game. if the fo want to also mange then grow some balls and save the cash of a scapegoat and go down into the dugout and manage as well.
YankeesBleacherCreature
SP pitching and a very good BP have been their saving grace.
tigerlillypond
Offense league wide is in the gutter.
Yankee Clipper
TLP: 100% correct. Worst it’s been in the history of MLB.
StudWinfield
Yankee fan freakout in 3,2,1…
StudWinfield
I’m confident yanks can hang in there. Looking forward to what Gittens and Garcia can do.
dirtbagfreitas
This is fine.
Orel Saxhiser
They can afford to wait a little bit before making a move With Luis Castillo being so bad, there isn’t that one SP you make a play for at this point in time. Some will say Danny Duffy or Matthew Boyd but I’m not sure I would.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Not so sure there is a play with the CBT. They may have to ship out Clarke Schmidt to stay under in order to get anyone of significance in return.
StudWinfield
It will be interesting if the this will make putting the CBT reset off one year an actual possibility.
Orel Saxhiser
Good points re the CBT. As Yankees fans, do you feel they have enough to just ride it out while waiting for underperforming bats to heat up? Also, is starting pitching the lone area of concern? I mentioned David Peralta on a Braves thread and think his lefty bat would be perfect for the Yankees. Signed through 2022 at $7.5 million, so might find a way to make it work. He’s having a good year and is a Yankees type professional player.
YankeesBleacherCreature
I don’t think they can postpone resetting with big arb raises due next year. It’s either this year or not for a while. I think they’ll make a free agent SS play if Gleyber doesn’t make marked improvements over the next few months.
Orel Saxhiser
Seager might make sense though his defense is becoming an issue. As a Dodger fan, I don’t expect him to be re-signed. Lux is far better on defense. Lux to SS, Michael Busch to 2B. They’re more likely to re-sign Chris Taylor than Seager. The question is how long Seager can be the Yankees’ SS. Bat is not a problem.
YankeesBleacherCreature
I think they have enough arms to ride it out. It is Gardy playing CF everyday which is concerning. No way can they risk Stanton playing on the field. This team has holes but I don’t see a way to fix them now. Next year is a different story.
StudWinfield
@Cey, Peralta and Gray (COL) have been my first choices for OF and SP. Not sure if he could play CF everyday just for this year but I like him for all the reasons you stated. Both would still make staying under the CBT a possibility this year.
Dorothy_Mantooth
There’s no way the Yankees are exceeding the CBT this year so they are not going to add players like Story, Bryant, Castillo etc..at the deadline. They have maybe $3M – $4M to play with so if the Yankees make additions they’ll be looking at the Ian Kennedy’s of the world. Maybe they can sucker a team into taking some payroll back in someone like Gary Sanchez to free up a little more space but no one should expect a big acquisition at the deadline. The Yankees know they have another 2-3 years left for contention and they really need to reset their CBT in 2021 so they can go for it all in 2022 & 2023 and not lose/lower their draft pick positions and/or pay $50M+ in luxury taxes by being 3X offenders. They still have big decisions on Judge & Torres to make as well.
Boston was smart to reset last year and they’ll probably stay under this year as well. With sizable salaries set to come off the books and a good young crop of minor leaguers ready in the next year or two, Boston looks to be setup for another 5-7 year run starting in 2022 – 2023. The Yankees have too many long term commitments already, most of which are immovable, so their window is smaller. Reset now and go for it all in 2022-2023; then a rebuild will be in order.
StudWinfield
Yanks are better off keeping Sanchez and getting what they can out of the combo of him and Higgy. No one is going to tender him a contract and go to arbitration with Sanchez. It makes no sense to trade for him and pay his salary just to lose him in the off-season. Might as well keep him for this year
brodie-bruce
@dorthy there is one way i see nyy blasting the the tax line and it comes down to 2 people, hal & cash. if both of them guys strongly feel that this years nyy team is a ws winning team i could see them blasting past and trying to shave payroll in the offseason and then reset the line in 23. nyy has stayed under the cbt for the last few years so there penalties won’t be harsh and gives them enough time to get under before they do get harsh
YankeesBleacherCreature
Dammit! We lost our #2 SP and leadoff hitter.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Luke Voit: stolen base threat.
YankeesBleacherCreature
The Yankees are second to last in the MLB in SB’s with .23 per game. SDP leads the way with 1.14. Losing Voit may reverse that trend.
Ducky Buckin Fent
We just simply don’t run.
So, why not bat Voit lead-off. I don’t think this club would give Ricky Henderson the green light.
whyhayzee
Ricky Henderson wasn’t going to wait for a green light. He knew more about stealing a base than any of the coaches. Whoosh!
Ducky Buckin Fent
Man, he was fun to watch play.
whyhayzee
I don’t think anyone has gotten more inside the head of a pitcher than Rickie. As a former pitcher, I hated that, but he was a force.
Ducky Buckin Fent
All in all, I think Henderson was the most destructive offensive player I have ever seen.
I know Bonds & A-Rod have an argument. As does Trout. But Ricky was something else entirely, man.
Dorothy_Mantooth
How couldn’t you love Ricky? He was the best, even in his later years. I would like to know how big his saliva glands were; I’ve never seen anyone come close to spitting as much as Ricky did at the plate. I counted it once just for fun and he spit 35 times in one plate appearance!
Ducky Buckin Fent
He did spit a lot, didn’t he?
But the man certainly knew how to find home plate, uh?
YankeesBleacherCreature
If a pitcher was off that day, he’d crouch down his batting stance so low that the guy didn’t stand a chance of not walking him. Rickey was great!
yankee766766
Henderson avgd. 74 SB / Yr.
His career OB% was .401.
He had 297 Hr’s….
He struck more than 100 times only ONCE in his career
Cap & Crunch
Jackie Robinson Whyhayzee
whyhayzee
Agree!
Cap & Crunch
As a former pitcher I agree with you as well….Nothing would take me outta a game more (early) than some pesky sob on the bases who got there by some lousy inf single-
Id rather give up a leadoff 500ft HR any day of the week….. Think it takes a lotta energy and focus outta the Sp
brodie-bruce
when i pitched i didn’t care too much about guys on base, but then again i always pitched from stretch and was quick to the plate and trusted my d and my stuff. too bad my stuff wasn’t good enough to get past hs ball lol
The Baseball Fan
Bartolo colon the goat
qbass187
Lol
jimmertee
Kluber is a lousy signing, extremely fragile righty. Has he performed well? Obviously yes, but consistency and health are needed too. His career might be over after this one.
Cashman doesn’t get them all correct. Unfortuantely.
YankeesBleacherCreature
If you asked any contending big market team whether they would pay $11M for 10 very solid pitching starts, most of them would sign on. Anything plus-performances Kluber brings later is just gravy. This is far from a lousy signing.
David C
YankeesBleacherCreature is correct( (and, I say that as a Red Sox fan): 8 to 11 million dollars is, whether we like it or not, pretty much about the going rate for 10 solid starts that equal to a 3.02 ERA for a big market team (and I suspect that even a considerable number of small market teams would pay that if the 10 starts were in September during a close division/playoff race).. That 1.1 million dollars per start becomes even more valuable to the team when A) one of those starts is a no hitter, and B) that the contract itself is for only one year. And as Yankee Bleacher also notes, anything that Kluber provides after his 8 week absence is over is more or less gravy on top. Cash has made a number of very bad signings and trades, but the Kluber signing was not one of them.
jimmertee
I guess it depends on the grid that one looks through.
I am a little bit more oldschool. A competent reliable starter is to have 30 starts regardless of the contract. Anything less than that is poor.
tigerlillypond
Those days are gone. They’re not coming back. you have only a handful of pitchers league wide doing that every year. The Yankees have one of them.
Orel Saxhiser
In 2021, MLB might be more at fault by thinking they could rush back into a 162-game season. These guys needed more time for actual baseball training as opposed to the kind of training they did when off for most of the previous year. A 120-game schedule would have been more beneficial to the health of the players. Unfortunately, both sides were only concerned about short-term paydays. Don’t expect the rash of injuries to end at some point this season.
jimmertee
Totally agree Cey. A lot of the MLB baseball players are weight room strong as opposed to the old days when they were farm strength strong.
The layoff really hurt “baseball” conditioning and health.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Since this is a Yankees article, @whyhazee should be along soon to do a little trolling.
He has the best take/explanation I have seen anywhere in re to all the injuries this season. Straight up.
Perhaps he will re-post it in between saying Kluber & Voit are hurt because they are on steroids, or whatever he comes up with. (My guess is that’s the direction he’ll go.)
jimmertee
Voit could benefit from steroids or HGH to help heal.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Hey.
I’m one of those pro-PEDs guys. So. He sure could.
YankeesBleacherCreature
You’re not wrong @jimmertee. **Kids, look away!**
Orel Saxhiser
jimmertee, It’ll be interesting to see what carryover the conditioning mistakes have beyond 2021. It’s yet another reason to worry about a work stoppage with players having too much time on their hands. Remember the old days of winter ball? On the surface, it would appear that all those extra games would wear players down. But in reality, the opposite was true as they were better equipped to play baseball. Also, when salaries were much lower, players had jobs during the off-season as opposed to spending all the time in the weight room. That might explain pitching injuries going up despite guys throwing fewer innings. With all the emphasis on power pitching, guys are training to be super studs as opposed to just working on their craft. It sometimes hurts to watch these guys throw. Hitters too, though the implications are longer ranging when pitching arms begin to fall apart. MLB has a lot of thinking to do re the health and well-being of their highest-paid employees.
tigerlillypond
Gary played winter ball, didn’t seem to help his bat much so far but he hasn’t gotten hurt yet. So ♂️
whyhayzee
When my nephew went to Kuwait (before 9/11), they hung out in the tent and worked out all day, it was so hot outside. When there’s nothing to do, you try to stay busy. All that lifting didn’t change my nephew, he was still a string bean. These ballplayers often are expected to pack on weight as if that’s going to insulate them from injury. Then Pedro and Pedroia come along and break the mold. Oh, you can be skinny or small and still succeed. So I think there is a bit of mythology in baseball about things like running distance (that can’t be good) and building flexibility (that’s girlie stuff).
whyhayzee
“Yankees right-hander Corey Kluber has a sub-scapular strain in his rotator cuff and will miss at least four weeks”
I commend the yankees for finally being informative but these injuries all just suck.
YankeesBleacherCreature
Looking forward to your prognosis report, doc.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Damnit.
Forgot about this one. The “Yanks are shady because of these injuries” take. I went with the steroid one as that has been his go-to since last summer.
He’s mixing it up.
Keeping us off balance.
whyhayzee
Sigh, I was criticizing their vagueness, now I’m commending their better attention to detail. I didn’t change, they did.
Steroids were never in the conversation unless someone else put them there. I found it suspicious that all these marginal players were suddenly all stars when they put on a yankee uniform. That’s my observation.
Listen, I don’t know if the yankees steal signs, take vitamins, or have a deal with the devil.
PS – Vitamins is not “code” for steroids.
Ducky Buckin Fent
Aww, Whyhazee.
I can’t lie. You’ve grown on me, man.
& you do have the best take I’ve seen on all the injuries this year.
Hey.
I tip my cap when it’s earned.
YankeesBleacherCreature
The Yankees run a tight ship in their PR/communications dept. I don’t think it’s a matter of being vague. They don’t comment on injuries until it’s defined. Other teams like to leak speculation to grab headlines which is fine. The Yankees receive plenty of non-injury exposure already.
tigerlillypond
The Yankees have invested a ton in player development & advanced scouting that they use to craft customized in game approaches. They’ve got better facilities and more staff then basically everyone but the Dodgers. the gains aren’t a mystery. the Yankees funnel money into all these things because they’re not counted towards the CBT.
64' Yanks
I’m not surprised. Well, the Yanks fired their conditioning coach last time. What will they do next time? I can not blame Cashman because he only does what he is told. I wonder if Hal can tell the fans how many World Championships the A’s have won since 2002, or how many players on the 2009 team went on the IL?
basquiat
OK, I want a refund on my MLB.com subscription. This ain’t MLB.
bobbyraymurcer
We’ll always have that one special night. It’s was fleeting but it was special….
YankeesBleacherCreature
And one of the many that got away…
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
Whoever is in dead last place on this year’s WAR list has a good chance of making the all-star game if he stays healthy…
YankeesBleacherCreature
Yasmani Grandal and his .136/.391/.364/116 OPS+ gets my AL C vote.
Ducky Buckin Fent
That slash line has to drive the batting average guys insane.
LetGoOfMyLeg
@Dorthy – “It’s time to start holding the players accountable and not blame everything on the manager.”
Isn’t that the Managers responsibility? To be clear I am not faulting what you are saying – nor being disrespectful – but it would seem that Boone needs to take some accountability here.
Eatdust666
Well, this sucks and while German has been good as has Monty other than that start against Baltimore, can they keep it up?
greenmonster08
Tough break for Kluber. Going to miss Kay and O’Neil talking about how his pitches 5 inches off the plate that were called strikes just caught the black because he works around the edges.
rocky7
More like “green jealous”!
Kind of like when Sale slings his pitches 5 inches off the plate and they are called strikes….right?
1984wasntamanual
Why would a Red Sox fan be jealous of the Yankees? To answer your question, it’s stupid for any announcer to act like a pitch 5 inches off the plate caught the black, no matter who is pitching.
brucenewton
Just buy more oft-injured players from other teams to replace these two. Boone can play first base. Doesn’t matter. Teams that run and play defense like the Yanks never go to the series.
Cap & Crunch
Jose Urena’s trade value has never been higher !
There is going to be an arms race come early July, best get the calls in early this year
whyhayzee
On the subject of hitting, I think the time off plus shortened season affected the timing and “being in the zone” for hitters much more than pitchers. That said, it’s probably more harmful on the pitchers arms. The other injuries are just a crap shoot of fitness for playing the game every day.
I remember reading an article in a running magazine making light of Cal Ripken’s streak because lots of runners run every day. What was lost on the author was that Cal was competing every day at the highest level. Runners wouldn’t last if they had to race every day. Sports, like running, wear you down over time.
nitemare
Call it a career kluber.. Leave on a high note