Yankees Quick Hits by Bryan Revello
1) Aaron Judge has slowed down his historic pace this past week. He is a rookie and there will be ups and downs but coming into Friday, he has hit just .211 in his past 19 at bats and I can’t help but wonder if he is still hurting physically. He took a tumble into the stands making a catch in Boston over a week ago and Joe Girardi acknowledged last Saturday that he was given the day off because he was indeed a little banged up. He hasn’t hit well this past week which is a small sample size to begin jumping to conclusions and he has still be active in the outfield and even on the base paths. I am not suggested that he is nursing a major injury and it could just be an off week, but the whole scenario did leave me wondering. Probably nothing to see here but if his performance does wane; perhaps this is an indicator as to why.
2) Is Aaron Hicks officially a starter? First off, he has certainly played like it. He has played like one of the best players in baseball over the past 6 weeks. Coming into Friday, he is hitting .333 with 22 runs, 6 homers, 16 RBI, 6 steals and a 1.101 OPS. A combination of a slow start from Gardner and an injury to Ellsbury has given him opportunity in 2017 but if he continues to play this way, he has to be a starter and Girardi will have to figure out the best way to use Gardner and Ellsbury otherwise.
3) What will the Yankees do with CC Sabathia? Sporting a 7.39 ERA in the past month, he has been borderline unpitchable lately but with his salary and veteran presence, the Yankees are likely to keep trotting him out there every five days. My question is what is the breaking point? How bad does he have to get until the team is forced to make a change? If he was able to keep an ERA in the fours, the team would have no issue keeping him as a starter in his final season with the Yanks but this team is now battling as a contender and his past few games has been like playing from behind for the Yankees’ offense. I would rather see a young promising pitcher occupying the spot if it were up to me. If the time does come to demote the veteran, expect them to announce an injury because he has been a good Yankee over the years and the team won’t want to embarrass him during his final run with the team.
About the Author
Bryan Revello is the Editor in Chief for New York Sportscene. A New York Yankees analyst and enthusiast, he can be heard talking about New York Yankees baseball on the Spadora on Sports radio program on Sports Byline USA stations around the USA. He can be reached at bryan@nysportscene.com.
