May 9th, 2025: Padres Series, Carrasco, Bellinger, Grisham, Mailbag

16 years and one day ago, Alex Rodriguez returned to the lineup following his March hip surgery, and hit a home run on his first pitch of the season. Here’s the video. The Yankees were 13-15 at the time and had lost their previous four games. A-Rod returned, homered, the Yankees won the game, and then had the best record in baseball (by six games) from that day forward. It wasn’t all A-Rod, but his return marked a turning point for the 2009 Yankees. I look forward to Giancarlo Stanton doing the same for the 2025 Yankees in a few weeks. Here now is today’s post.

1. Weekday thoughts. Was Wednesday the best win of the season? Has to be, right? I mean, there are only 21 wins to choose from, and it wasn’t until Tuesday that the Yankees made a late-inning comeback. Yeah, Wednesday’s game was the best win of the season. From getting no-hit to two late-inning game-tying homers to Devin Williams beginning his redemption arc (hopefully) to the easy-to-root-for backup catcher walking it off to the Yankees winning without Aaron Judge contributing (a rarity), it had just about everything. The Yankees are 3-4 in their last seven games and they’ve added a game to their division lead. The AL East is the AL Least this year. Go win it, Yankees. A few thoughts on the last few days.

The long-awaited big inning

Big innings have been hard to come by the last few weeks and the Yankees had their biggest inning in a decade Tuesday night. It happened so quick too, didn’t it? The Yankees needed only 37 pitches to plate 10 runs in the seventh inning (video). The weekend before last they forced Kevin Gausman to throw 53 pitches in the third inning, and he allowed “only” six runs. It was quite the eruption Tuesday.

“We’ve had some really good, close games this past week. It just felt like the chips were going to fall our way one of these nights,” Clarke Schmidt told Bryan Hoch after the game. “What a performance from the offense. That inning was very impressive. When they’re clicking like that, it’s a lot of fun to be on this side.”

Old pal Wandy Peralta was charged with six of those 10 seventh inning runs. Wandy is forever cool with me, he rules and was an awesome Yankee, but he understood the assignment. Deep down, Wandy still wears pinstripes. Here are a few more notes on the seventh inning carnage:

• 10 runs is the Yankees’ biggest inning since an 11-run second inning against the Rangers on July 28th, 2015. That was an eventual 21-5 win. Chris Capuano started, gave up five runs and got two outs, then the offense (and Diego Moreno) picked him up.

• Tuesday was the Yankees' first 10-run inning at Yankee Stadium since their 12-run first inning against an Orioles rookie starter named Zack Britton on July 30th, 2011. Every so often the YouTube algorithm feeds me the video of that inning. I can never not watch it.

• Austin Wells had an RBI single and a grand slam in the inning. He’s the first Yankee with a 5 RBI inning since Alex Rodriguez’s two-homer, 7 RBI sixth inning in Game 162 in 2009. That got A-Rod to 30 homers and 100 RBI for the 12th straight season.

• San Diego’s bullpen went from a 1.68 ERA (3.08 FIP) to a 2.34 ERA (3.28 FIP) in one game. That is still the lowest bullpen ERA in baseball. Their bullpen has allowed 39 runs all year. 10 of the 39 came in that one inning.

And what started the 10-run inning? Jasson Domínguez's hustle double against a lefty. Domínguez does not hit lefties often, but when he does, he hits doubles. He’s 4-for-38 (.105) with four doubles against southpaws this year. “I know I’ve been struggling from the right side. Getting that hit from that side means a lot,” he told Hoch. Look at that seventh inning rally:

• Jasson Domínguez: Double and fly out

• Anthony Volpe: Two singles

• Austin Wells: Single and grand slam

• Ben Rice: Two-run double

• Aaron Judge: Intentional walk

• Oswaldo Cabrera: Two outs (womp womp)

That’s six homegrown players driving the bus in the Yankees’ biggest inning in 10 years. Removing Judge because he’s on another level, homegrown Yankees have a 109 wRC+ in 674 plate appearances this year. For all my bitching and moaning about their crummy hitter development, the Yankees are getting nice production from players who came out of their system, including that Judge guy. I hope it lasts all season.

The Yankees scored 10 runs in their previous 28 innings before exploding for 10 runs against the best bullpen in baseball in the seventh inning Tuesday. It was cathartic. Other than the occasional leadoff back-to-back-to-back home runs, the offense has been stuck in the mud the last few weeks. This is what they can do though. When they’re at their best, it’s tough at-bat after tough at-bat, and extra-base hits aplenty. 

Another note on Wells

Wells ranks seventh among catchers with a 103 wRC+ and it is almost all slug: .214/.266/.473. His walk rate has cratered from 11.4% last year to 6.5% this year, though his chase rate has not spiked. It was 26.4% last year and it’s 29.8% this year. An increase, sure, but not a big enough one to explain his walk rate being cut almost in half. Wonder what that’s about. More balls in play early in the count, most likely.

The grand slam was Wells’ seventh home run of the season. Seven homers in 125 plate appearances this year after 13 homers in 414 plate appearances last year. Those 13 homers were split into three in his first 166 plate appearances and 10 in his last 248 plate appearances. So, going back to last year, Wells has 17 homers in his last 373 plate appearances. That’s a good pace for anyone, especially a catcher.

Wells is first in Statcast framing and third in FanGraphs framing. He’s 6-for-28 (21%) throwing out runners, which is exactly league average, and so many steals are on the pitchers. How many times have we seen a guy sliding into second base before the throw crosses the mound? The pitchers haven't done the catchers many favors holding runners. I was surprised to see Wells at 21% given that. (J.C. Escarra is 0-for-9 throwing out runners.)

I hope Wells can get his walk rate back up to last season’s level, or even just to league average, because the rest of the package is really good. He’s become a heck of a defender (no one except the Yankees saw that coming) and his power is comfortably above average for the position. Add an OBP element and we’re talking about one of the best catchers in the game. Exciting times behind the plate.

Nine-man bullpen era begins with Carrasco DFA

Carlos Carrasco was a band-aid until some guys got healthy, and the Yankees ripped it off sooner than I expected. Carrasco was DFAed Tuesday and Yerry De Los Santos was called up to fill out the bullpen for the time being. In six starts and two relief appearances, Carrasco had a 5.91 ERA (5.28 FIP and 4.85 xERA) in 32 innings. He’s a swell guy and his teammates love him, but that’s not gonna cut it.

The Yankees have several off-days coming up and only need a fifth starter twice between now and June 7th. They’ll need a fifth starter at some point during the six-game West Coast trip that begins today, and again when they play nine games in nine days from May 20-28. Aaron Boone mentioned Ryan Yarbrough and Allan Winans as candidates to start. Carrasco could return too, Adam Ottavino style.

“I’ve always admired him from across the diamond, and we got to see it up close,” Boone told Gary Phillips about Carrasco. “What a phenomenal human being that Carlos is, and the class with which he carries himself. It really was a pleasure to be around him for these last couple of months. And who knows? He may be back here.”

There’s also Marcus Stroman. He threw two bullpens last weekend and is expected to throw live BP this weekend. If that goes well, it won’t be too long until Stroman is back throwing BP in actual games. The No. 5 starter situation sounds very much like a “we’ll figure it out when we get there” thing. If they need Yarbrough out of the bullpen, they’ll use him and figure out a starter. If not, they can start him.

The Yankees will carry a nine-man bullpen for the time being and it’s for the best. The bullpen has been used a ton (in part because Carrasco did not eat innings) and the core relievers are going to be on fumes by July at this rate. De Los Santos has a 26.4 K% and 51.9 GB% in Triple-A. For an up/down guy, he’s pretty interesting. Of course, he could wind up back in Scranton for a fresh arm as soon as tomorrow.

Too bad Carrasco didn’t work out. Veteran savvy and guts can only take you so far. Luis Gil is still weeks away and Gerrit Cole isn’t coming back (this year). The Yankees will be in the market for a starter at the deadline. The only question is do they want a back-end innings dude, a role Carrasco couldn’t fill, or someone they can start in the postseason? Gil’s recovery will be a factor in that decision.

Miscellany

I’m starting to worry about Max Fried. One run in seven innings Wednesday (video) and his ERA has skyrocketed up to 1.05. There’s still what, seven years to go on the contract? Uh oh. For real though, what a fantastic pitchers’ duel that was. Fried was great again and Dylan Cease was razor sharp. Cease is maddeningly inconsistent, but when he’s on, he’s as good as anyone in the game. 20 swings and misses on 86 pitches, including 14 whiffs on 23 swings against this slider, is nasty work. I don’t want to make too much of one game, but coming back against that version of Cease and that Padres’ bullpen felt like a statement game … Michael King’s return to the Bronx wasn’t particularly notable, at least not for anything he did: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K. Judge did add him to the list though. Judge took King deep (video) and this is the reaction of a man who knows he’s going to hear about it in the group chat:

"I threw a middle-middle fastball to the best hitter in baseball. I'm not expecting to get that one back,” King told Hoch. Thank you for taking it easy on the Yankees, Mike. See you in the World Series … Cody Bellinger’s last 12 games: 12-for-42 (.286) with three doubles, three homers, seven walks, and six strikeouts. The home run he hit Wednesday night (video) was one of those “okay yeah, I can see how this guy won an MVP” homers. It was a 98.1 mph fastball in an 0-2 count up here …

… and Bellinger just ate it. I wouldn’t say he’s capital-B Back, there are still too many wild hacks leading to weak contact, but Bellinger is trending in the right direction. His outfield defense has been really good too according to both the numbers and eye test … 10 homers in 101 plate appearances for Trent Grisham this year after hitting nine in 209 plate appearances last year. He casually came off the bench Wednesday, hit an extremely cool game-tying pinch-hit two-run homer (video), raised the bar on the bat flip game …

… and then went back to chilling in the dugout. That’s what happens when you trade a generational talent, Padres. Getting Juan Soto as a throw-in in the Grisham trade was such a great move … Seven of the first 15 batters reached base against Schmidt on Tuesday night. In the past, the game would have gotten away from him. These days Schmidt is much better at grinding through messy spots. He was able to limit the damage and give the Yankees six innings of two-run ball. Lance Brozdowski wrote about some of the changes Schmidt has made to his arsenal in a free edition of his newsletter after Tuesday’s game. Despite the results, not all the tweaks are positive … Can’t say I was comfortable with Williams on the mound in the tenth inning Wednesday, but it worked out. He struck out three batters and got five whiffs on his Airbender, two more than any other game this season. There’s a good pitcher in there. A great one, really. I hope we start seeing him more often soon … Obligatory Boone complaint: If you’re willing to use Luke Weaver in the eighth inning and for five outs, why wouldn’t you just have him start the inning against the 1-2-3 hitters? Boone tried to steal a few outs with Ian Hamilton. Two walks later, Weaver was in the game, and the two inherited runners scored. The top of the lineup in the eighth inning of a tie game calls for your best reliever, but whatever. Boone is hardly the only manager who is too rigid with his closer. 

Injury updates

Jake Cousins (flexor) threw 15 pitches in live BP Tuesday. Giancarlo Stanton (elbows) was among those to face him. It was the first time either guy faced live pitching/hitting. Sounds like both came through it okay … The plan for DJ LeMahieu (calf) was to play rehab games Tuesday and Wednesday, then possibly activate him for the West Coast trip. Tuesday was rained out though. I’m not sure how that changes things. Wouldn’t surprise me if they activate him tonight anyway … Jonathan Loáisiga (elbow) moved his rehab up to Triple-A Scranton this week. He struck out two in two scoreless innings Wednesday. Only 19 pitches and his sinker topped out at 96.5 mph. Boone told Hoch the tentative plan for Loáisiga is to pitch Sunday, Tuesday, then back-to-back next Saturday and Sunday. If that goes well, he could be activated soon thereafter … Scott Effross (hamstring) threw a scoreless inning in the rookie Florida Complex League earlier this week. It was his first rehab game. Few more of those and he’ll be activated off the injured list, and optioned to Triple-A Scranton … Spencer Jones was placed on Double-A Somerset’s 7-day injured list Tuesday. It’s an intercostal strain. No word on the severity, but like oblique injuries, intercostals can take a few weeks. Jones is hitting .228/.372/.554 (166 wRC+) with nine homers and a 36.3 K% … And finally, lefties Brent Headrick and Brandon Leibrandt were activated off Triple-A Scranton’s injured list earlier this week. They’re both healthy and thus available as up/down options again.

Up next

The Yankees’ first ever games in Sacramento. The few Athletics’ home games I’ve watched had a minor league vibe. Rays’ games at George M. Steinbrenner Field feel Spring Training-y. A’s games at Sutter Health Park feel minor league-y. Here’s what’s coming up between now and Monday’s post (Monday because I’m not staying up late to finish a post after a West Coast game that night):

• Friday at A’s: RHP Will Warren vs. RHP Osvaldo Bido (10pm ET on YES, MLBN)

• Saturday at A’s: LHP Carlos Rodón vs. LHP JP Sears (4pm ET on YES, MLBN)

• Sunday at A’s: TBA vs. RHP Luis Severino (4pm ET on YES)

Sutter Health Park has played very hitter friendly early on. Statcast’s park factors say it’s the second most hitter friendly park in the league, and teams are averaging 5.08 runs and 1.25 homers per game there. The league averages are 4.34 runs and 1.06 homers per game, for reference. A’s owner John Fisher said he’s excited to watch Aaron Judge hit homers in Sacramento. I hope Judge gives Fisher what he wants.

The Athletics are no longer a pushover. They’re 20-18 overall (15-17 against the Not White Sox) and they’ve got some dudes who can bang. Tyler Soderstrom and Brent Rooker (especially the last few weeks) have been great, old pal Miguel Andujar is hitting .320/.352/.423 (121 wRC+), and the twitchy Jacob Wilson is hitting .357/.383/.476 (148 wRC+) with seven strikeouts in 150 plate appearances. That’s a 4.7 K%. The A’s can ruin a pitcher’s day.

Sunday’s starter is very much TBA. If the Yankees need Yarbrough to bail out Warren tonight, they’ll use him, then figure out Sunday’s starter later. Sears (2.93 ERA and 3.38 FIP) and Severino (3.62 ERA and 3.69 FIP), two former Yankees, have been really good this year. Chances are Mason Miller will pitch at some point this weekend. Don’t be fooled when his 4.61 ERA flashes on the screen. He had one disaster outing and has otherwise been lights-out. Lights-out as in 26 strikeouts in 13.2 innings.

2. 2025 draft prospect: Alabama RHP Riley Quick. The 2025 MLB Draft will take place during the All-Star break and the Yankees hold the No. 39 pick. I’ll create a spreadsheet with links to all the draft prospects I profile soon. Some will be players the Yankees are reported to have interest in, some will be players who fit the team’s M.O., and some will be players I happen to like. Little of everything.

Quick, 21, is a Yankees-sized (6-foot-6 and 255 lbs.) right-hander who wasn’t drafted out of his Alabama high school, in part because he was a touted offensive line prospect. He gave up football to focus on baseball full-time with the Crimson Tide. Quick was a walk-prone reliever (18.9 BB%) as a freshman and he made just one start as a sophomore before blowing out his elbow and having Tommy John surgery.

Quick’s Tommy John rehab was aggressive. He had surgery last Feb. 20th and made his first start this year on Feb. 15th. Less than 12 months from surgery to games. Alabama has handled Quick cautiously. He did not throw 70 pitches in a game until mid March and didn’t throw 90 pitches until this past weekend. Still, 11 months and change for Tommy John rehab is unheard of in pro ball nowadays.

In 11 starts this season Quick has a 3.47 ERA (3.31 FIP) with 25.4 K% and 8.6 BB% in 46.2 innings. The speedy Tommy John rehab hasn’t hurt his performance or his draft stock. Here’s where Quick, who was teammates with Yankees’ 2024 first round Ben Hess the last few years, finds himself in the latest draft prospect rankings:

• Baseball America (subs. req’d): No. 42

• ESPN (subs. req’d): No. 45

• FanGraphs: Unranked

• MLB Pipeline: No. 33

• Keith Law (subs. req’d): No. 18

This draft class is weirdly thin on college righties, which is always a popular demographic. I don’t know if that means Quick will come off the board sooner than expected (position scarcity and all that) or if it won’t make a difference one way or another. I guess we’ll find out. Here’s video and here is a snippet of MLB Pipeline’s free scouting report:

Quick has the power stuff to go in the first round, beginning with a heavy sinker that sits at 96-97 mph and tops out at 99, and the 6-foot-6, 255-pounder holds his velocity throughout his starts. His mid-80s slider can be a wipeout offering with two-plane depth, and he can turn it into a cutter that climbs as high as 95 mph. He also flashes a solid upper-80s changeup with fade and sink.

Though Quick's fastball and slider grade as plus-plus at their best and he can back them up with a quality changeup, he doesn't miss nearly as many bats as his pure stuff indicates he should. His pitches move so much that they can be difficult to harness, leaving him with decent control but spotty command. He has logged fewer innings than most third-year college pitchers and the hope is that he'll approach his frontline-starter ceiling as he gains more experience and polish.

The Yankees used their first seven picks on pitchers last year and Hess was the first pitcher they took in the first round since Clarke Schmidt in 2017. I don’t think that means they’ve suddenly changed their draft strategy and will focus on pitching now. It’s more just like proof of concept that yes, the Yankees are still willing to use their top pick on a pitcher after going with position players in the first round every year from 2018-23.

Quick does seem Yankees-ish. Physically huge, power stuff, and an injury history they might be willing to overlook. He’s only thrown 71.2 innings in college. The injuries that caused him to miss time are bad, but it’s possible the relatively light workload means Quick is only scratching the surface of his talent. When your first selection is No. 39, there are worse rolls of the dice.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Mike asks: Would the Yankees roll back the beard rules because Williams is bad?

Honestly, that would be pretty funny. The Yankees changed the facial hair policy in 1995 and allowed beards, but they started 15-24, so George Steinbrenner re-implemented the policy. "It's like a slap on the wrist. They shouldn't have changed it in the first place if they were going to take it away,” Don Mattingly said at the time. The Yankees went 64-41 the rest of the way and snuck into the postseason.

Devin Williams told the Yankees he didn’t like the facial hair policy, but he’s not the only player to do so, and they didn’t change it specifically for him. Hal Steinbrenner said he spoke to a “large number of former and current Yankees – spanning several eras – to elicit their perspectives on our longstanding facial hair and grooming policy,” and decided to change it. “Ultimately the final decision rests with me,” he said. Hal owns it, and if he rolls it back, he would be admitting a mistake. I don’t think he’ll do that.

Also, the players would not be happy. Mattingly was not happy in 1995 and everyone with a beard now wouldn’t be happy either. Punishing the entire roster because Williams has been ineffective is kinda silly. It was a pointless, outdated, and unpopular policy, and it’s a good thing it’s over and done with. Putting the facial hair ban back in place would tell me the Yankees are focused on the wrong things.

Isaac asks: I know I know it's too early to be thinking about this. But let's just say Devin Williams is broken. The bullpen is still in decent shape right now, what might another Devin Williams trade look like? Could they get a decent righty bat for half a season of a maybe broken reliever? How much longer would this have to continue for you to consider it, and do you think the team would entertain it?

Wednesday night aside, I’m frustrated with Williams, so I would consider a trade right now. That just might be the frustration talking though. I am sure the Yankees would entertain trading Williams, but they would rather he get his act together and pitch like a lockdown closer. You’re not going to get full value for him. The track record is excellent, but Williams is struggling badly this year, and the Yankees making him available would signal they’re done with him and hurt their leverage. Every team needs bullpen help and several contenders would be willing to roll the dice on Williams. I really have no idea what his trade value is. The Yankees gave up an injured rental starter and an okay prospect for a full year of what they thought was the good version of Williams. What does half-a-year of bad Williams get in a trade? Maybe it is a righty bench bat and nothing more. Busted rental Joey Gallo got the Yankees a good pitching prospect with injury and control concerns (Clayton Beeter). Is that the market for busted rental Williams? If it is, are the Yankees better off keeping him? If he’s still struggling like this in July, then no, probably not. Hard to see how they could count on Williams at that point. They’d have to move on.

Paul asks: The Athletic had a column about troubling stats for teams, and while the Yankees weren't called out for anything, Luke Weaver made an appearance in one of the charts for worst Stuff+ for closers (people with 3+saves). Is this cause for concern? 

Weaver’s 95 Stuff+ was fourth worst behind Luke Jackson (87 Stuff+), Ryan Pressly (93 Stuff+), and old pal Tommy Kahnle (93 Stuff+). It’s a cause for concern in that you don’t want a guy’s stuff to decline, but also Stuff+ is not terribly predictive. It’s about as predictive as xFIP, which went out of style years ago. Weaver had a 100 Stuff+ last season, which means the pitch model thought he had average stuff even though his performance was well above average. I imagine the Stuff+ decline is tied mostly to Weaver’s velocity, which is down this year but is gradually ticking up. Pitch models are useful, no doubt, but a lot of people who should know better treat them like gospel. Stuff+ is one tool in the shed. That’s all. I still have some concern about Weaver’s velocity, so, by extension, I have concern about his Stuff+.

A different Mike asks: Trent Grisham. When do we start talking about an extension?

What a difference a few months makes, eh? Early in the offseason we were talking about a possible non-tender and finding a cheaper defense-first fourth outfielder. Now Grisham is a lineup mainstay and the leadoff hitter, and I’m getting mailbag questions about an extension. For argument’s sake, let’s say Grisham settles in as a 25-homer/120 wRC+ bat with top of the line center field defense. He turns 29 in November, so he probably still has another few years of good (if not elite) defense ahead of him.

That player (25 homers, 120 wRC+, good defense in center) is a +4 WAR guy, maybe +5 WAR, and Year 1 of Grisham’s free agent deal will be his age 29 season. That’s a $20M a year player, no? Lorenzo Cain and Dexter Fowler got five years and $85M or so a decade ago, and they were in their early 30s. The lack of track record could hurt Grisham, but using Cain/Fowler as a guide for the center field market, yeah, you can get to $100M for Grisham once you account for inflation. All-around players at up-the-middle positions in their 20s get paid.

I doubt the Yankees give Grisham $100M and they won’t extend him (or anyone) in-season anyway. The better question might be is he playing his way into a qualifying offer? Figure it’ll be worth $22M this offseason. The Yankees have been stingy with qualifying offers and I get it. It’s a big chunk of change and we’re talking about a compensation pick after the fourth round given their luxury tax status, not a premium pick after the first round. They didn’t give one to Gleyber Torres (wisely given the contract he signed, as it turned out). 

Our hypothetical 25-homer, 120 wRC+ earlier, plus glove center fielder is easily worth the one year and $22M-ish qualifying offer, especially since we’re talking about Grisham’s age 29 season and not his age 33 season or whatever. It’s not a simple “is this player worth this money?” question though. It’s also a “we have this much to spend and is this really how we want to spend it?” question. Like it or not, the Yankees have a budget. Dollars are finite, and an outsized one-year deal for Grisham may not be in the plans.

If the Yankees plan to pursue Kyle Tucker, then declining to make Grisham the qualifying offer makes sense. You don’t want him to take it and then gum up your payroll (and outfield), even if he’s worth the money. We’re getting way ahead of ourselves though. Grisham has been awesome. Let’s let the last 125 games of the season play out before we really dive into the extension/qualifying offer discussion. The fact it’s even a thing to consider right now is pretty cool though. Grisham’s been so good.

Ray asks: Let me start with the obvious. This will never happen and shouldn't happen. But as a thought exercise: What would the Yankees get in an Aaron Judge trade? It starts with the biggest package in MLB history, yes?

Team executives hate nothing more than paying market rate for players. Judge’s $40M a year is a relative bargain given his production and some of the contracts that have been signed since his deal, but it is still $40M a year for his age 34-39 seasons. The money alone eliminates what, 22 teams right out of the gate? (I’m assuming the Yankees won’t eat money to facilitate a trade.) A few teams that could afford Judge would still balk at the money, whittling the list of available suitors down further. 

Realistically, the market for Judge would be the Dodgers, Mets, and Phillies, and probably the Blue Jays and Giants. Maybe the Rangers too? I don’t think the Astros, Braves, Mariners, Red Sox, or Tigers would go for it even though Judge is an obvious fit for them. (He’s so good. He’s a fit for any team.) Those teams won’t want to subtract much from their MLB roster to get Judge. That defeats the purpose, right? What’s the point of the Giants trading for Judge if they have to give up Logan Webb and Jung-Hoo Lee?

The Dodgers might be the best match. Top infield prospect Alex Freeland would fit well at third base. The Yankees could figure out what to do with catcher/outfielder Dalton Rushing. And what about Roki Sasaki? I’m not taking 2-3 Triple-A prospects for Judge. I need an impact big leaguer and that could – could – be Sasaki, who’s been good-ish so far, but is so obviously talented even if his fastball leaves something to be desired. The Dodgers would say no to Freeland, Rushing, Sasaki, and Andy Pages. I bet the Yankees would too.

I remember chatting with pals about Mike Trout’s trade value early in his career and we couldn’t come up with a team that had enough to get him. We tossed out Trout for Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey, and even then we weren’t sure the Angels would say yes. (That was around 2012-13, when Bumgarner and Posey were at their peaks.) That would be an issue with a Judge trade. I’m not sure any team actually has enough pieces to get the Yankees to say yes. Add the money on top of that, and I bet the offers for Judge would be surprisingly underwhelming.

Tyler asks: Random lighthearted question this week - I've noticed that Aaron Judge seemingly doesn't try his hardest against position players pitching. He doesn't bend his knees and abandons his stance and approach. I wonder if the stats back up my eye test on this. Stanton seems to revel in hitting HRs off position players - as he said, they all count the same - and I'd like to see Judge follow suit and add a few cheap HRs when he can. What do you think?

Excluding Shohei Ohtani, Judge has only six career plate appearances against position player pitchers (2-for-5 with a walk). That surprised me. The Yankees have faced 23 position player pitchers in the Judge era, but sometimes his lineup spot didn’t come up, and other times he was out of the game to get off his feet late in a blowout. Giancarlo Stanton is 5-for-9 with three home runs against position player pitchers and yeah, he definitely seems to enjoy it. It’s the entertainment business. Giancarlo trying to hit a ball into the third deck off a backup catcher entertains me. I wish Judge would take the same approach simply because Judge dingers are fun (and also it would pad his career home run total, which could help come Hall of Fame voting time), but if he’s not comfortable doing it, or if getting a few innings off his feet is more valuable in the grand scheme of things, then so be it. The absolutely last thing the Yankees need is Judge pulling an oblique trying to hit a tank off Jake Bauers.

Steve asks: The Yankees just put up a huge inning on the Padres and had 13 batters in the half inning. Shout out to old pal Wandy for most of the disaster. Anyway, Cabrera had 2 out of that 3 outs in that inning. Which made me wonder, has there ever been a half inning where the same batter made all 3 outs?

No, never. Only 17 players in the Modern Era (since 1900) have ever had three plate appearances in an inning, and all 17 reached base at least once. The last player with three plate appearances in an inning is a former Yankee: Johnny Damon. The Red Sox had a 13-run first inning against Carl Pavano and the Marlins on June 27th, 2003 (box score). Damon doubled to start the game, tripled later in the inning, then singled later in the inning. Three legs of the cycle in the first inning. Damon finished with five hits in the game, though he didn’t hit the homer to complete the cycle. Making all three outs in an inning would be the ultimate ignominy. Your teammates would never ever ever let you live that down.

(Send your requests for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com. The random Yankee series is on hiatus, but feel free to send in requests for when it returns.)