- Yankees manager Aaron Boone issued updates Friday on a few of their key players who are on the IL, telling WFAN (via Marly Rivera of ESPN.com) that right fielder Aaron Judge is “likely” to be in the Yankees’ lineup for their next game (that won’t be this weekend, as their series with the Mets was postponed). Judge has been down for a week with a mild calf strain. Meanwhile, second baseman DJ LeMahieu is doing “significantly better” as he recovers from the left thumb sprain that sent him to the IL last weekend. And reliever Zack Britton, whom the Yankees shelved Thursday with a strained left hamstring, should recover “on the shorter side.”
Yankees Rumors
Yankees Place James Paxton On Injured List
Aug. 21, 3:43pm:: The Yankees have placed Paxton on the IL with a Grade 1 flexor strain.
12:53pm: Paxton’s official diagnosis is a flexor strain, Heyman tweets. He’s likely to be placed on the injured list.
12:08pm: MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that Paxton received relatively good news on the MRI. His injury is believed to be muscular in nature, as opposed to a structural issue with a ligament.
Aug. 20: Yankees left-hander James Paxton is dealing with forearm discomfort and will undergo an MRI, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
Paxton started the Yankees’ loss to the Rays on Thursday and performed decently, throwing five innings of one-hit, three-run ball with eight strikeouts against four walks. In all, though, it certainly hasn’t been a great platform season for the oft-injured 31-year-old, who entered Thursday with a 7.04 ERA and a below-average 4.97 FIP in 15 1/3 innings. And though Paxton did begin his latest start with excellent strikeout and walk numbers (10.57 K/9, 1.76 BB/9), his average fastball has clocked in just under 93 mph – well below the 95-96 area he sat in from 2016-19.
While Paxton clearly hasn’t had a banner season, a long-term absence – which forearm troubles often lead to – would be more unwelcome news for an injury-plagued, starter-needy New York club. Even after a sweep at the hands of the Rays, Yankees are still 16-9 and in wild-card position. However, their only reliable starter to date has been Gerrit Cole, while Masahiro Tanaka and Jordan Montgomery have joined Paxton in failing to provide a front-end complement to Cole. As such, whether or not Paxton’s injury proves to be serious, the Yankees could be in the market for rotation help as the Aug. 31 trade deadline approaches.
Yankees, Phillies Swap David Hale For Addison Russ
2:03pm: The Phillies have formally announced the trade.
12:30pm: The Yankees are sending right-hander David Hale to the Phillies, per Ken Rosenthal and Matt Gelb of The Athletic (Twitter link). Hale was designated for assignment earlier this week but has consistently posted solid numbers in the bullpen for the Yanks.
In 54 1/3 frames wearing Yankee pinstripes, Hale owns a 2.98 ERA and 3.54 FIP with averages of 6.0 strikeouts, 1.8 walks and 0.7 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. The righty generates grounders at an above-average rate and has proven plenty capable of pitching multi-inning stints, so he should provide a boost to a Phillies bullpen that has far and away been the worst in baseball this season.
12:26pm: The Phillies have traded minor league right-hander Addison Russ to the Yankees, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter). The 25-year-old will head to the Yankees’ alternate training site for now. The Phillies’ return isn’t yet clear.
A 19th-round pick of the Phillies back in 2017, Russ spent the 2019 season in Double-A, where he pitched to a 2.54 ERA with 12.9 K/9, 3.2 BB/9, 0.79 HR/9 and a 44.9 percent ground-ball rate in 56 2/3 innings of work. He wasn’t considered to be among the Phillies’ top tier of prospects despite those solid numbers, however. Baseball America ranked him 24th in the system, while MLB.com omitted him from its top 30 and FanGraphs had him outside the top 40.
Russ was in the Phillies’ 60-man player pool, so the trade to New York opens a spot for them, unless of course they receive a 60-man player in return. For the Yankees, they’ll add a bullpen prospect with decent minor league success, providing a bit of depth in the wake of injuries to Tommy Kahnle and, more recently Zack Britton.
Mets/Yankees Weekend Series Postponed
This weekend’s series between the Yankees and Mets has been postponed due to the recent positive Covid-19 tests within the Mets organization, Major League Baseball announced in a press release. Newsday’s Tim Healey reported minutes beforehand that the league would be taking this step (Twitter link). Last night’s game between the Mets and Marlins was also postponed.
There have been some degree of cancellations stemming from positive Covid-19 tests each weekend in MLB since the Marlins played in the wake of a few positive tests on opening weekend. That led to a team outbreak which ultimately resulted in a reported 18 cases for the Marlins, and the league has since been more diligent and proactive in postponing games in an effort to avoid similarly widespread instances of the virus. While the Cardinals had an outbreak of their own, the Reds and Mets are the only other clubs to have had positive tests during the season. The Reds only saw three games postponed, and the hope here is obviously that the Mets will see a similarly brief stoppage of play.
When the game against the Marlins and the series against the Yankees will be made up isn’t yet determined, although the East-centric nature of this year’s schedule gives ample opportunity for doubleheaders and other makeup games. The Mets are scheduled to play at Yankee Stadium from Aug. 28-30, and they’re slated to host the Marlins at Citi Field from Aug. 25-27. The Athletic’s Tim Britton points out that Aug. 24, Sept. 3 and Sept. 14 are all mutual off-days for both the Mets and Yankees.
Yankees Place Zack Britton On Injured List, Option Miguel Andujar
The Yankees have placed lefty Zack Britton on the 10-day injured list due to a strained left hamstring and optioned infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar to their alternate training site, per a club announcement. Right-handers Ben Heller and Miguel Yajure are up from the alternate site in a pair of corresponding moves.
Britton, 32, appeared to sustain the injury while covering first base last night. He had an MRI earlier this morning that confirmed the strain prior to the team’s announcement. Presumably, manager Aaron Boone will have more information on the severity of the strain and the expected recovery timeline when he next addresses reporters.
It’s a tough loss for a Yankees club that hoped to have its bullpen back to full strength after welcoming Aroldis Chapman back from the IL. Britton pitched quite well as the interim closer for the Yanks, yielding just two runs on six hits and four walks with nine strikeouts through nine innings. He’s picked up eight saves in 2020, and while his ground-ball rate is “down” to 60 percent this year, that still rates well above the league average.
This marks the second time in 2020 that Andujar, 25, has been optioned to the minors. The 2018 Rookie of the Year runner-up went 1-for-7 with a single and a walk in his latest brief stint at the big league level. Shoulder surgery wiped out what would’ve been Andujar’s second full season in the big leagues, and the club has struggled to find opportunities for him now that he’s healthy. The Yanks have gotten Andujar some reps in the outfield, but their lineup is crowded with quality options that have relegated him to more of a depth option at the moment (even with a few key position players injured).
The Yankees currently have Aaron Judge, DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list. In their absence, Mike Tauchman is seemingly in line for regular outfield work, hot-hitting Clint Frazier logging action at DH and Tyler Wade shouldering the workload at second base. Andujar will need to be down for at least 10 days unless he’s recalled as the corresponding move for placing another player on the injured list.
Yankees Sign Jordy Mercer To Minors Contract
The Yankees announced infielder Jordy Mercer has been signed to a minor league contract and assigned to the club’s alternate training site. Mercer and minor league catcher Wynston Sawyer have both been added to New York’s 60-man player pool, with Sawyer joining Mercer at the alternate camp.
Mercer appeared in three games for the Tigers this season before deciding to become a free agent rather than accept an outright assignment on August 6. He’ll now join a Yankees team in need of some second base depth since DJ LeMahieu’s is expected to spend two or three weeks on the injured list due to a sprained left thumb. Tyler Wade and Thairo Estrada are New York’s current second base options on the active roster, and it isn’t out of the question that Mercer could also serve as a backup shortstop to Gleyber Torres.
Best known for his long stint as the Pirates’ starting shortstop, Mercer has a .257/.315/.387 slash line over 3276 career MLB plate appearances with Pittsburgh and Detroit. Fielding metrics have taken a dim view of Mercer’s shortstop glovework in recent years, though that could be a moot point if he ends up playing second base for the Yankees. (For what it’s worth, Mercer has a +4.4 UZR/150 and +3 Defensive Runs Saved as a second baseman, though only over 286 2/3 career innings at the position.)
Yankees Place DJ LeMahieu On 10-Day IL
AUG. 17: The Yankees expect LeMahieu to miss two to three weeks, manager Aaron Boone told Hoch and other reporters.
AUG. 16, 3:05pm: LeMahieu will receive a second opinion on his hand tomorrow, reports Bryan Hoch of MLB.com, who adds that LeMahieu will visit the same specialist who treated him for a similar injury in 2018. As of now, there’s no timetable for LeMahieu’s return, though the Yankees are confident that the sprain will not require surgery.
11:34am: The Yankees announced they’ve placed DJ LeMahieu on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb sprain. Miguel Andújar has been recalled from the alternate training site to replace him on the active roster.
LeMahieu was removed from last night’s game against the Red Sox. While x-rays came back negative, manager Aaron Boone acknowledged then an IL stint was a possibility. That’s evidently come to pass. LeMahieu has been a big part of the Yankees’ AL East leading 14-6 start. He’s hitting .411/.456/.534 (177 wRC+) over 79 plate appearances, more than doubling down on his breakout 2019 season, in which he hit .327/.375/.518 en route to a 4th-place finish in AL MVP balloting.
The Yankees didn’t announce a timetable for his potential return, but the hope is today’s move is merely out of an abundance of caution. After all, New York sits in prime postseason position already and surely wants LeMahieu at full strength for the stretch run. An impending free agent, the 32-year-old no doubt is targeting a healthy, productive finish to the season himself.
Andújar was seemingly a victim of a roster crunch when he was optioned ten days ago. The 25-year-old was highly productive as a rookie (at least offensively) in 2018, but he’s since been passed at the hot corner through little fault of his own by Gio Urshela. It’s seemingly still questionable whether he’ll find everyday run, given that he won’t be seen as an option to replace LeMahieu at the keystone. That role figures to be handled by Tyler Wade and/or Thairo Estrada.
Yankees Activate Aroldis Chapman, Designate David Hale
The Yankees announced Monday that they’ve reinstated closer Aroldis Chapman from the injured list and designated right-hander David Hale for assignment in order to create roster space.
Chapman is expected to step back into the closer’s role, pushing fellow southpaw Zack Britton back into a setup role. Chapman has yet to pitch this season after testing positive for the coronavirus in mid-July. He was cleared to resume baseball activities back on July 31, though, and has since been working to build up to game readiness. His return should only deepen an already formidable late-inning relief corps; Britton has allowed just one run through 8 1/3 frames while racking up eight saves. And Chapman himself is fresh off a 2.21 ERA and 13.4 K/9 through 57 innings last season.
Fans can be forgiven if they’ve lost track of how many times the Yankees have designated Hale for assignment at this point. The 32-year-old righty continues to post sharp numbers for the Yanks — he allowed two runs in six innings this season — but has been designated for assignment an astonishing four times in the past three years in addition to being outrighted off the team’s 40-man roster in the 2018-19 offseason. Hale has signed five minor league contracts with the Yankees since 2018.
For all the times he’s been cast aside by the Yankees, Hale keeps coming back and keeps pitching well. In 54 1/3 frames wearing Yankee pinstripes, Hale owns a 2.98 ERA and 3.54 FIP with averages of 6.0 strikeouts, 1.8 walks and 0.7 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. The righty generates grounders at an above-average rate and has proven plenty capable of pitching multi-inning stints, so another club in need of some length in the bullpen or depth in the rotation could conceivably take a look.
The Yankees will have a week to trade Hale, release him or attempt to pass him through outright waivers.
Judge Feeling "100 Percent" Recovered From Calf Injury
- Aaron Judge’s 10-day IL stint may be a minimal one, as the Yankees star told Newsday’s Roger Rubin and other media that he is already recovered from his minor calf strain just two days after his placement. “I was begging for just a couple days…and I don’t need 10 days to be feeling good. I already feel 100 percent now,” Judge said. While Judge is “frustrated with myself not being out there,” he “wouldn’t say I’m frustrated with the organization. This shows how much the organization cares for me and looks out for my well-being.” Given how much time Judge (and other Yankees players) have missed due to injury in recent years, it makes sense that the club would be as cautious as possible in making sure a seemingly minor injury didn’t blossom into a bigger issue.
Yankees Plan To Activate Aroldis Chapman Monday
The Yankees intend to activate closer Aroldis Chapman tomorrow, according to Lindsey Adler of The Athletic. Chapman has yet to pitch for the Yankees this year after a positive COVID-19 test during Spring Training 2.0.
Chapman originally went on the injured list on July 11, so it’s clearly taken a bit of time for him to not only get healthy, but also ramp back up into the swing of things.
Nonetheless, he’ll be a key addition to the back end of the Yankee bullpen, which has relied primarily upon Zack Britton in save situations through the first 20 games. Even with Chapman on the sidelines, Yankee relievers have been as dominant as expected, with Britton, Chad Green, and Adam Ottavino anchoring the unit. Unfortunately, they now find themselves without Tommy Kahnle, who underwent Tommy John surgery nearly two weeks ago.
The 32-year-old Chapman will embark on the first season of the $48MM extension he inked with the Yankees last winter. The shortened season means he will only earn a prorated version of his nominal $16MM salary.
Chapman, though perhaps slightly more worldly than he was when he broke into the Majors in 2010, is still one of the most dominant arms in baseball. Last year, he pitched to the tune of a 2.21 ERA while striking out 85 batters in 57 innings of work. And though his fastball averages a meager 98.2 mph these days, expect more of the same dominance when he makes his return to the mound in the coming days.
