September 6th, 2024: Holmes, Rodón, Torres, Gil, Schmidt, Mailbag

For the third time this season, Aaron Judge was named AL Player of the Month. He slashed .389/.530/.856 (268 wRC+) with 12 homers in August. Per James Smyth, Judge is one of only three players to win three Player of the Months in a single season, and he’s now done it twice:

• Aaron Judge: May, June, August in 2024

• Ronald Acuña: April, June, September in 2023

• Aaron Judge: May, July, September in 2022

• Mark McGwire: April, May, September in 1998

Player of the Month has been around since 1958 in the NL and 1974 in the AL, and Judge is up to nine for his career. That’s third most all-time behind Barry Bonds (13) and Alex Rodriguez (10). Since 2017, Judge has more than twice as many Player of the Months as anyone else. Acuña and Shohei Ohtani are tied for second with four each. I normally don’t care about weekly or monthly awards, but Judge is closing in on the all-time record, and that’s pretty cool. I hope he’s the record-holder by this time next year. Here now is today’s post as former Yankee Nick Nelson becomes a knuckleballer.

1. Weekday thoughts. The Yankees are 2-6 in their last eight games and have been outscored 53-40, and they played three teams that entered the series with losing records. The Yankees are 40-41 in their last 81 games, which you don’t need me to tell you is exactly half a season. Amazingly, the Yankees are still only one game behind the Orioles in the loss column, and the magic number to clinch a postseason berth is 13. No one will win the AL East. One team will just lose it a little less. Here are a few thoughts on the Rangers series.

The Yankees have tried nothing with Clay Holmes, and they’re all out of ideas

Ultimately, it’s on Clay Holmes to get the outs he’s asked to get, but he has been struggling for weeks now, and the Yankees and Aaron Boone responded by shrugging their shoulders. They tried nothing. At some point the blame shifts from the player to management, and I think we’re there. Boone is not using his players properly and he is not putting his team in the best position to win. It wasn’t until Game 140 and blown save No. 11 that a change was made in the ninth inning.

"I’m not going to answer that right now when we’re raw and emotional,” Boone told Dave Sessions when asked what he’ll do about the closer’s role after Tuesday’s loss. "We’ll talk through and do what we think is the best thing. (Holmes is) really important to us down there. We need his excellence to be part of the group down there. So this is a tough one."

The frustrating thing – and I’ve mentioned this several times the last few weeks – is the Yankees removed Holmes from the closer’s role each of the last two seasons! He struggled, they took him out of the ninth inning, then once he locked it back in, they made him the closer again. They did this with Aroldis Chapman a few times too. Why was it off the table for so long this season? Why were the Yankees so stubborn?

The bullpen as a whole has been terrible lately and it is beginning to come apart at the seams now that Jake Cousins and Luke Weaver are no longer automatic. There were 12 individual relief appearances during the Rangers series and only five were scoreless. Since Aug. 1st, the bullpen has a 4.84 ERA (4.18 FIP) with -0.54 win probability added. Here are the full season numbers:

• ERA: 3.89 (13th in MLB)

• FIP: 4.13 (20th)

• K%: 22.7% (21st)

• BB%: 9.2% (20th)

• HR/9: 1.03 (15th)

• WPA: +2.46 (12th)

• WAR: +3.1 (20th)

In the last 12 months the Yankees have traded for four Major League relievers: Victor González, Caleb Ferguson, Enyel De Los Santos, and Mark Leiter Jr. Four whiffs. Their best bullpen additions since the end of last season are Weaver (low cost free agent) and two scrap heap pickups in Cousins (used an opt out to escape the White Sox) and Tim Hill (released by those same White Sox). That is … not great.

The Yankees finally removed Holmes from the closer’s role and Boone hinted at a closer by committee, which is the best way to go. That said, Boone has shown little skill managing a bullpen when it isn’t loaded with great relievers – the bullpen was BooneProof from 2018-23 – so I’m not sure a committee will actually work. It’s a great idea in theory, one many teams employ, but can Boone swing it?

“In the short term, (we’ll) certainly be a little creative down there.” Boone told Drew Davison on Wednesday. “… Just try and put these guys in the best position to be successful. How that shakes out may vary a little bit every night, but in the short term, that’s the way we’ll go."

If the Yankees must have a single dedicated closer, Tommy Kahnle is the best option. I think? He’s close to platoon neutral and he’s the best combination of strikeouts (24.8%) and ground balls (61.5%) in the bullpen (other than Holmes). Kahnle’s probably the way to go, yeah. There is no great solution though, and therein lies the problem. The Yankees failed to improve the bullpen at the deadline, so here we are.

(They also failed to improve against lefties at the deadline, lest you forget the Yankees got shut down by Andrew Heaney before Holmes blew the game Tuesday.)

The Yankees are gonna have to go full 2019 Nationals in the postseason. Lean on six pitchers to throw 85% of their innings, use their starters out of the bullpen on their throw day, etc. I’m not even sure I’m joking. Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt will return this weekend and good gravy are those two important. The Yankees are short on pitchers who can reliably get outs right now. That’s a bad place to be.

The Yankees are a game behind the Orioles in the loss column with 22 to play, and unless they sweep the O’s in the second-to-last series of the regular season, Baltimore owns the tiebreaker. Functionally, the Yankees are two behind the Orioles in the loss column. The Yankees aren’t in immediate danger of falling out of a Wild Card spot (they’re 10 up in the loss column), but it’s gut check time in the division.

This team is not short on deficiencies (can’t hit lefties, -1.7 WAR from first base, etc.) but the blown saves are the single biggest reason the Yankees are not in first place. They haven’t lost every Holmes blown save (they’re 3-8 in those games), but those are a lot of late leads that got away. Convert three of those eight blown save losses into wins (not even all eight), and the AL East outlook is very different.

(The difference between the Orioles and Yankees is that when Craig Kimbrel began blowing games left and right, the O's moved him into a low leverage role. They didn’t keep running him out there in the ninth inning like the Yankees did with Holmes.)

And the most aggravating part is the Yankees allowed it to continue happening. It’s not like they’ve cycled through different relievers in the ninth inning and no one’s stuck. If that was the case, then so be it. That’s baseball sometimes. But it is Sept. 6th, Holmes was the closer since Opening Day, and he was allowed to struggle and blow games, and the Yankees didn’t act until so late. This was negligence.

Miscellany

That was a fun fake comeback rally in the ninth inning Wednesday. That’s twice in a week Giancarlo Stanton came about a foot short of a game-changing dinger (this one and this one). The O’Neill Theory – Paul preaches this constantly – says when you score a lot late in a blowout loss, the hot bats carry over to the next game. We’ll see. Offense hasn’t been the problem lately anyway. It’s the pitching … The bullpen wasted it, but Carlos Rodón bounced back very nicely from his disaster outing in Washington last week: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 11 K, 1 HR (video) on Tuesday. The 11 strikeouts are his most as a Yankee. Marcus Stroman stunk Wednesday: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 HR. MLB bylaws say the Yankees must get a bad start at least once each turn through the rotation … It is very funny (note: it is not funny) the Yankees finally have an effective leadoff hitter – Gleyber Torres is hitting .310/.413/.451 (149 wRC+) in 18 games since returning to the leadoff spot, and he’s reached base multiple times in 13 of those 18 games – only to have Juan Soto and Aaron Judge fall into simultaneous slumps. Soto went 3-for-3 with a double, a homer, and a walk Wednesday. He’s coming around. Judge hit a few balls on the screws right at defenders. That’s a good sign. Hopefully Gleyber is still doing this when those two really get going … Since getting his hypoallergenic batting gloves, Alex Verdugo is 14-for-41 (.342) with a double and a home run. It’s almost all bloops and ground ball singles though. I don’t buy into this at all. Verdugo’s on a BABIP heater, which high contact guys tend to do, and that’s it. I’m not putting any stock into this, but I hope it lasts through October since he isn’t coming out of the lineup … And finally, the Yankees are somehow getting sloppier and more careless as the importance of these games ramps up. The Rangers series was a tour de force in throwing to the wrong base, not making plays on the infield, and just lazy and unfocused play. Things are so bad now that it’s fair to question the effort and compete level. It’s every single day with this team. They give away extra outs and an extra 90 feet every game. It is losing baseball. That’s the best way to describe it. 

Injury updates and roster moves

Gerrit Cole (calf) is fine after exiting Monday’s start with a cramp after six innings and 82 pitches. Cole has not thrown more than 95 pitches since July 24. That was six starts ago. Should probably check the 100+ pitch box at some point before October, no? … Austin Wells (wrist) is still sore after being hit by a pitch Monday. X-rays came back negative, but the Yankees held him out of the lineup Tuesday and Wednesday, and Thursday was an off-day. Hopefully he feels better after a three-day break. The Yankees can ill afford to lose Wells for anything more than a few days … Schmidt (lat) made his third and final rehab start Monday: 4.2 IP 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR (video) on 70 pitches with Double-A Somerset. He will start Saturday in Chicago. DFAing Phil Bickford is the most straightforward way to clear a 26-man and 40-man roster spot for Schmidt, who is on the 60-day injured list …  Gil (back) will come off the injured list and start the first game of the Cubs series Friday. Scott Effross was sent down after Wednesday’s game, so that’s the roster move … Jon Berti (calf) moved his rehab up to Triple-A Scranton and played left field Wednesday. It was his first time playing anything other than third base this season. Berti has played plenty of outfield in the past, so it wasn’t new to him, but the Yankees seem to be preparing him to platoon with Verdugo. A Berti/Verdugo platoon in left field. How inspiring. Berti will play the outfield again this weekend. His 20-day rehab window ends next Friday and Boone told Chris Kirschner that Berti is “probably in play about any time” … And finally, Ian Hamilton (lat) returned to the mound Wednesday after being scratched from a rehab appearance with back spasms last weekend. He retired all five batters he faced and has thrown four perfect innings on his rehab assignment. Maybe Hamilton will return late in the season and be the MFer the bullpen needs, the way Josh Sborz did for the Rangers last season. That would be neat.  

Up next

The road trip continues on Chicago’s north side. The Yankees have not played at Wrigley Field since May 2017 (since this) and it is their longest ballpark drought. This is the end of those long ballpark droughts though. The Yankees have played in every other stadium since the start of last season as part of the new schedule that alternates home and away interleague games each year. Also, this is Anthony Rizzo’s first trip back to Wrigley Field since the trade. I’m sure he’ll get a hero’s welcome. Here’s what’s coming up:

• Friday at Cubs: RHP Luis Gil vs. LHP Jordan Wicks (2:20pm ET on YES, MLBN)

• Saturday at Cubs: RHP Clarke Schmidt vs. RHP Javier Assad (2:20pm ET on YES, MLBN)

• Sunday at Cubs: RHP Gerrit Cole vs. RHP Jameson Taillon (2:20pm ET on YES, MLBN)

• Monday vs. Royals: TBA vs. TBA (7pm ET on YES)

The rare Friday afternoon game. Rare for the Yankees, that is. The Cubs have to play Friday home games in the afternoon because of an old city ordinance that protects nearby businesses by not forcing them to compete with the Cubs on Friday nights. The Cubs get only a handful of Friday night home games a year and today isn’t one of them. Friday afternoon baseball for the pinstripers.

Nestor Cortes will piggyback with Gil or Schmidt (probably Schmidt just because he didn’t build up his pitch count as far as Gil did during his rehab assignment), then he’ll reenter the rotation next weekend. The Yankees will use a six-man rotation next time through, then figure out what they do with everyone after that. Gil and Nestor are gonna wind up their top two relievers in October, aren’t they?

The Cubbies are one of the hottest teams in baseball. They threw a combined no-hitter against the Pirates on Wednesday and are 10-3 in their last 13 games. They have an outside shot at a Wild Card spot, so they’re playing well and they’re playing for something. Also, they’re averaging 8.80 runs in their last 13 games! Chicago is only 72-68 overall, but they have been firing on all cylinders lately.

2. Domínguez not PPI eligible. Matt Eddy, who knows these rules better than anyone, says Jasson Domínguez is no longer eligible for a Prospect Promotion Incentive draft pick. Those are the extra draft picks given to teams that do not manipulate the service time of their top prospects. One of the criteria is fewer than 60 days of service time, and Domínguez cleared that while on the injured list earlier this season. My unofficial math has El Marciano at 109 days of service time.

(Other players have been disqualified from PPI status because of time spent on the injured list, most notably Royce Lewis.)

It had been speculated that the Yankees did not call Domínguez up on Sept. 1st because they wanted to keep him down long enough to retain rookie-eligibility in 2025, and thus make him eligible for a PPI pick. I never really bought that. The odds of getting that pick are so low – Domínguez would have to win Rookie of the Year in 2025, or finish top three in the MVP voting at some point from 2025-27 – that it would be kinda silly to prioritize that over fielding the best possible team for the 2024 stretch run.

I think Domínguez is in Triple-A because the Yankees truly believe Alex Verdugo is better than he has been, which is dubious but I guess I can understand it, and also because they believe Domínguez still has boxes to check in Triple-A. Keep in mind he is only 21, and has played only 49 career games in Triple-A. Many of those were in a rehab setting too. He was getting 3-4 at-bats at DH, playing only seven innings in the field, etc. El Marciano has spent very little time in Triple-A as a healthy player with no restrictions.

Domínguez is hitting .302/.358/.472 (116 wRC+) in Triple-A this season – he is 26-for-72 (.361) with four home runs and a 15.0 K% in his last 18 games – though he’s been much better from the left side of the plate. Brendan Kuty (subs. req’d) recently spoke to an evaluator who said Domínguez’s throws have been inconsistent since Tommy John surgery, and he’s made a few misplays in the outfield. Here’s what Eli Ben-Porat (subs. req’d) wrote about Domínguez in his weekly Statcast prospects breakdown:

My take is that he’s flashing some elite tools, especially as a lefthanded batter, but he could use some time to work on his swing from the right side of the plate … He may be optimizing for contact on the fastball from the right side of the plate, but the sample sizes are small, so it’s hard to be conclusive. 

…

From the left side of the plate, however, Dominguez looks like a monster … We see the curiously-low average exit velocity, but the raw power is borderline elite, with a 90th percentile exit velocity close to 109 mph. He’s showing some chase against sliders and curves, but he is able to make contact when he chases while making a ton of contact against pitches in the zone (all pitch types). There’s room for improvement with the swing decisions, but he looks like a superstar from the left side, with a rare blend of 75-grade raw power, decent launch angles and sublime zone contact. 

Ben-Porat concludes “the Yankees are doing the right thing by giving him a little more time to work on things” away from the microscope of a big league division race. Domínguez’s average exit velocity is only 87.0 mph in Triple-A this year, though he’s 87th percentile or better in max exit velocity, 90th percentile exit velocity, and in-zone contact rate. When he really connects, it’s very loud contact.

I understand Domínguez isn’t a finished product and that, in the grand scheme of things, keeping him in Triple-A may be (probably is) the best thing for his development. I guess what doesn’t make sense to me is, if you don’t think he’s MLB ready in Sept. 2024, why was he up – and batting in the middle of the order – in Sept. 2023? Was that just to get Domínguez’s feet wet in meaningless games and show him what he needs to work on this season to stick in the big leagues full-time?

Also, it’s no secret the right side is Domínguez’s weaker side of the plate. That has been the book on him since his days as an amateur. Why then call him up as the 27th man and bat him fifth against Tarik Skubal, the most dominant lefty in the game today, on Aug. 18th? Is that really putting him in the best position to succeed? Domínguez is somehow not as good as Verdugo, but he was also MLB ready last September and is good enough to hit fifth against Skubal. It’s very weird. No, it's nonsensical.

I think Domínguez should be up right now because I think he’s better than Verdugo, and offers more upside with the bat. There’s more to life than home runs, but the Yankees have a left fielder who’s hit three homers in his last 80 games, and there’s basically no level of defense that makes that little power and a sub-.300 OBP tolerable in left field. Domínguez is the upside play, and if it doesn’t work, the Yankees can go right back to Verdugo. Whatever. If nothing else, we know El Marciano is not down for PPI reasons. 

“He was a different guy on the field than everybody else,” a scout told Greg Joyce about Domínguez earlier this week. “He looked like he was ready. I think in the Yankees lineup, he’s probably a six or seven hole kinda guy right now. He’s got whack. He can run. He brings a lot of things to the table. I didn’t see anything that stood out that would say, ‘He needs more time here.’”

(If the Yankees truly believe Domínguez needs more development time in Triple-A, fine. Then play Trent Grisham over Verdugo. Grisham has been the more productive player for three months now. I do not understand the loyalty to a 84 wRC+ and +0.8 WAR rental player.)

3. Rapid fire thoughts. Andrew Marchand (subs. req’d) reports John Sterling is indeed coming out of retirement to call Yankees postseason games. You think he’ll call both of them? Kidding! Or am I? I can’t tell with the way they’re playing these days. Anyway, WFAN made Sterling an offer recently and he accepted. He'll call the Orioles series from Sept. 24-26 as a tune-up. "It sounds corny, but I really miss doing the games with Suzyn. I miss the interaction in those few hours. We’ve always had such a good time together," Sterling told Bryan Hoch, adding this is his "last hurrah" doing baseball games. Send John out properly, Yankees.

Mailbag Questions of the Week

Colin asks: The Cardinals recently demoted Nolan Gorman, who originally played 3rd before they squeezed him into 2nd with Arenado at 3B. What're the chances he could be on the block this off-season, would it make sense for the Yankees and what might it take?

It seems likely Gorman will be on the trade block. Nolan Arenado’s not going anywhere, Brendan Donovan is locked in at second, and the Cardinals figure to put Alec Burleson at first base next season if they don’t re-sign Paul Goldschmidt. St. Louis likes to rotate players through the DH spot too. I’m not sure there’s a place for Gorman on the roster. Of course, he hit .203/.271/.400 (86 wRC+) with a 37.6 K% this year, so he’s not exactly forcing the issue. Gorman earned his demotion to Triple-A.

Still only 24, Gorman had a giant hole at the top of the strike zone, and he closed it up enough last season to hit .236/.328/.478 (118 wRC+) with 27 homers and a tolerable 31.9 K%. He played at a 35 homers per 600 plate appearances pace. You can live with a 31.9 K% to get that kinda pop. Here are Gorman’s MLB percentiles. For whatever reason, his swing decisions collapsed this year:

Gorman had over 300 plate appearances in all three seasons, so it’s a pretty good sample. Swings and misses have always been part of his game and always will. Gorman’s contact rate in the strike zone is terrible, but before this season, he generally swung at the right pitches, and he makes the most of his above average power by pulling the ball in the air so much. (He’s a very Yankee Stadium friendly lefty.)

Gorman has been awful at second base (-12 DRS and -20 OAA in about 2,000 innings) and the prospect scouting reports say he has the hands and arm for third base, though his lateral movement is lacking. He is a pretty thick guy (listed at 6-foot-1 and 225 lbs.). I’m not sure how much he can improve his mobility. The consensus seems to be that Gorman will wind up at first base down the road.

The strikeouts and swings and misses at pitches in the zone will send a Gallo-ian chill down your spine, but Gorman has real power, he doesn’t turn 25 until May, and he’ll be able to play a position of need for the Yankees (first or third base). The strikeout and contact issues are really scary. Gorman is only a year removed from a 118 wRC+ and 27 homers though, and have you seen the third base market?

I’m terrible with “what would it take?” questions. Gorman has four years of control remaining and it seems like he’s falling out of favor with St. Louis. Would the Cardinals take injured Chase Hampton in a broken prospect for broken young player trade? Probably not, but hey, might as well ask. I don’t love Gorman because of the contact issues, but there are worse third base gambles in this market.

Jon asks: If Rizzo shows he can be anywhere close to even slightly below league average at 1B, the Yankees should leave DJ off the postseason roster, right? I'm in favor of Jasson over Verdugo, but I approve of Duke Ellis over DJ. With Jazz on 3rd and Rizzo on 1B, aren't Oswaldo and potentially Berti better suited for whatever DJ purports to do right now?

I don’t know what DJ LeMahieu brings to the table right now. He can’t hit and he can’t run. He can stand at first and third bases, but he hasn’t played good defense this year either. I guess if the Yankees pinch-run for Anthony Rizzo, LeMahieu can come in and play first base? That’s really it, and they could use Oswaldo Cabrera at first base in that case (though he’s obviously much less experienced there). LeMahieu will be on the postseason roster and I bet he starts against lefties, but he doesn’t offer much. There’s really no reason for him to be on the roster right now, let alone in October. (Seriously, what even is the upside with LeMahieu? What are the Yankees trying to unlock? A .270 hitter with little power, no speed, and increasingly suspect defense?)

Mike asks: I know that the numbers say that Volpe is good defensively, but it seems that every error he makes tends to come at the worst possible time. Is there any kind of defensive metric that tracks leverage index to see if it’s just my imagination?

Anthony Volpe does have a tendency for late-inning misplays, doesn’t he? As far as I know there is no public measurement of high leverage defense, but I can tell you that of Volpe’s 14 errors this season, six came in the seventh inning or later with the score separated by no more than three runs. Three were back in April, one was in July, and two others are more recent. Here are the plays. Errors aren’t a great way to evaluate defense (especially with official scoring these days), but every one of those six errors falls into the “a Major League shortstop has to make that play” category. Volpe is a very good defender even if he isn’t the most graceful in the field. He does have a knack for poorly timed bobbles though. Hopefully this is something he’ll outgrow, or maybe even is just a bit of baseball randomness and doesn’t really mean anything.

Adam asks: Outside of Judge and Soto’s historic seasons, what would you say has been the best development of the 2024 season? Mine would be the emergence of Austin Wells as a potential franchise building block at catcher (with an honorable mention to Luis Gil).

Yeah, it has to be Wells, I think. Gil is a pitcher and pitchers break (especially pitchers who already have an injury history, like Gil), so I try to temper my expectations with them. You need pitchers, a lot of them, but go look at the 2022 pitching WAR leaderboard. That was only two years ago and there’s been so much change in the “best pitchers in baseball” hierarchy. Gil’s been awesome and I hope it lasts, but pitchers, man.

Wells, meanwhile, looks like a legitimate middle of the order threat with a classic Yankee Stadium swing, and surprisingly good contact rates. The 20.5 K% might surprise me more than the defense, which has been really good and is another reason Wells is the best development of the 2024 season. He’s a very good framer and blocker, and his throwing rates as average-ish. Add it all together and you have an above average player at the hardest to fill position in the sport. Is there even a close second to Wells as the best non-Judge/Soto development for the 2024 Yankees?

Andrew asks: Ben Rice. Did the Yankees pull the plug on his playing time too quickly? Or do you think it was warranted?

I thought they pulled the plug too quickly, though to be fair to the Yankees, Rice didn’t do himself any favors. He went 2-for-23 with 11 strikeouts in the six games immediately following the three-homer game, for example. The Yankees definitely played DJ LeMahieu too much in early August though. He got starts against righties (Aug. 4th vs. Yariel Rodríguez, Aug. 7th vs. Carson Fulmer, Aug. 14th vs. Davis Martin, etc.) and it’s just like, why. Why would you do that? At the end of the day, it was on Rice to perform when he was given at-bats and force the Yankees to put him in the lineup more, and he didn’t do that. He’s not a tippy top prospect who was going to be given a long leash to work through any struggles. I would have liked to have seen Rice more, though I can understand why the Yankees cut back on his playing time. I just wish they had a better alternative than late career LeMahieu.  

Jon asks: I know it'll be Cole no matter what - but who SHOULD be the Yankees' starters, and in what order, if, say, the ALCS were to start next week? And what about if it starts in late September but Cole hasn't yet returned to being Cy Young-Cole, but Clarke Schmidt and Luis Gil are back and pitching like earlier this year?

It should be Gerrit Cole. He’s still the most talented pitcher in the rotation and the most likely to dominate a good lineup on any given night. He’s also least likely to melt down and bomb out of the game in the third or fourth inning. Cole has the highest upside and the highest floor in the rotation. We needn’t overthink this. Cole is one of the what, three or four or five most talented pitchers in the world? You start him in Game 1 and as often as possible in the postseason.

Cole in Game 1 and my guess is the Yankees will default to Carlos Rodón in Game 2, though if Luis Gil and Clarke Schmidt come back and throw the ball in September as well as they did in April and May, then there should be a conversation about Game 2. Rodón has been prone to blowouts. Game 2 shouldn’t go to him strictly because of his contract (though he was great Tuesday). Let’s see how Gil and Schmidt look this weekend, and how the rest of the month plays out. It’s Cole in Game 1 for me though.

Several asked: Why not put Luis Gil in the bullpen and possibly even make him the closer right now?

Gil was so good as a starter earlier this season that I think you have to find out if he’s back to being that guy after this little 15-day breather on the injured list before moving him into the bullpen. The good version of Gil is your Game 2 starter in the postseason. He was that good. The issue is there are only 22 games to go. Not much time to a) find out if Gil is back to his early season form, and b) get him acclimated to the bullpen if that’s where he fits best. Gil has not pitched out of the bullpen regularly since he was in the Dominican Summer League in 2015. He needs to come up with a routine, learn what it’s like to pitch back-to-back days, etc. Not much time to do that and find out if he’s still a viable starter. There’s a place for Gil on the postseason roster, clearly. Yeah, he walks a lot of guys, but so do a lot of top relievers. Let’s see what he looks like Friday. If Friday’s start goes well, then start him again in five days. The bullpen move can’t be kicked down the road forever, but there’s still time to give Gil a chance to start.

Stan asks: Hi Mike, just need to get this off my chest. I don't understand why the Yankees would not have tried Neely first before trading him for Leiter. He was basically just about big league ready and had good stuff to boost. His slider is an outstanding pitch and while his fastball is relatively straight, it is a lot faster than Leiter's. As you mentioned, Leiter's fastball has little margin for error in comparison. Sometimes I feel like the Yankees are trying to be too cute. Just go with what your eyes tell you (e.g., Neely was dominating and likely would be at least decent in majors). It's not like he would not have been better than some others in the bullpen in the past month or two, so why not give him a shot first?. Am I way off here?  Thanks

For what it’s worth, the Cubs called Jack Neely up last month, and he got bombed in four appearances (4 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 5 K, 2 HR) before being sent back to Triple-A. That’s pretty much exactly why the Yankees didn’t give Neely a look. They didn’t trust an unproven rookie the throw high leverage innings in a division race, and they felt Mark Leiter Jr. was a better option. They whiffed on Leiter, he’s stunk, but that was the thinking. That Leiter was better equipped to be a high leverage option this year (and next) than Neely. I don’t know if that’s a satisfying answer, but that is the answer. (I am way more annoyed Leiter isn’t working out than I am about the Yankees trading Neely. Non-elite relief prospects aren’t worth sweating. Another Jack Neely will come along next year. They always do.)

A different Mike asks: In today's mailbag you answered a question about which 5 Yankees you'd add from the 2009 team to the 2024 team. Who would you select if the situation was reversed? Judge, Soto, and Cole are obvious. However, I should point out that to add Soto, you have to bump out a very legit Damon, Swisher, or Matsui to the bench. Judge easily takes Cabrera's spot in CF while Cole could replace Joba in the rotation. After that, everything feels like splitting hairs (Holmes & Weaver over Coke & Bruney) or minor upgrades to the bench (Wells & Volpe over Molina & Pena).

Aaron Judge and Gerrit Cole are easy yeses. So is Juan Soto. Johnny Damon had a 122 wRC+ and was a +4.2 WAR player in 2009. He was the Yankees’ most productive outfielder that year. Even then, you swap him for Soto, who is one of the best hitters in the world and a transcendent, game-changing talent. Damon was awesome in 2009, but Soto is on another level. Cole, Judge, and Soto get my first three spots. 

After that, boy, we’re really splitting hairs. It’s not even worth taking Austin Wells as the backup catcher because Jorge Posada played so much. I think you take Tommy Kahnle over Brian Bruney and Tim Hill over whoever you consider the last guy in the 2009 bullpen (Jonathan Albaladejo? Jose Veras?). It’s a lot easier to come up with 2009 Yankees who would be upgrades for the 2024 Yankees than vice versa.

Juan asks: Let’s pretend for a second here: If Dominguez comes up, wins World Series MVP, and then wins Rookie of the Year next year, would he be the first person to ever do that?

Yep! Only a handful of rookies have won postseason MVP awards, and only one remained rookie-eligible the next season. Here’s the list:

• Jeremy Peña: 2022 ALCS MVP and World Series MVP

• Randy Arozarena: 2020 ALCS MVP

• Michael Wacha: 2013 NLCS MVP

• Livan Hernandez: 1997 NLCS MVP and World Series MVP

• Mike Boddicker: 1983 ALCS MVP

• Larry Sherry: 1959 World Series MVP

Arozarena won AL Rookie of the Year in 2021 after being ALCS MVP in 2020. He remained rookie-eligible in 2021 in part because of the weirdness of the service time rules during the 60-game pandemic season. Everyone else there was a true rookie the year they won their postseason awards, and was not eligible to win Rookie of the Year the following season. Jasson Domínguez could, in theory, win World Series MVP this year and Rookie of the Year next year.

Carlos asks: Hey Mike, hope this is not the craziest email you’ve ever read. Straight to the point: Are pitching coach mound visits effective? With pitch com and extensive scouting report prep, what can really the pitching coach say to the pitcher? “Throw strikes”? Wonder if there’s a statistician out there willing to do the leg work on ERA on innings when the pitching coach comes out? IDK… somewhere along those lines. This might be a better question for the off-season.

When I wrote for FanGraphs way back in the day, I had an idea to crunch the numbers on mound visits and see whether they did impact effectiveness, pitch selection, things like that. It wasn’t doable though because mound visits weren’t coded into PitchFX. I would have had to watch every game and manually record when a mound visit happened, then go back and run the numbers, and nope. (Maybe mound visits are coded into Statcast? I’m not sure.) A few years ago David Laurila spoke to a few players and coaches about mound visits and most said they’re good for a breather in a long inning, and that’s about it. And that was before PitchCom too. The mound visit limit has been whittled down from six in 2018 to four in 2024, and no one’s complaining. If they were that important and that impactful, players and coaches would be up in arms. It’s weird though, right? Why can the coach or manager go talk to the pitcher in the middle of an inning (or even in the middle of an at-bat) but not the hitter or the third baseman or the right fielder? The scales are tipped so far in favor of pitchers that they even get mid-inning consultations no other player on the field gets.

(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.)