April 29th, 2024: Offense, Judge, Rodón, Trevino, Tonkin, Prospects

A month into the season the Yankees are 19-10 despite Gerrit Cole throwing zero pitches and Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, and Gleyber Torres having only a handful of great games between them. It hasn’t been the prettiest four weeks, but wow, can’t complain about the results. Here now is Tuesday morning’s post on Monday. I figured it would be best to run this a day early since the Brewers series is over and the important four-game Orioles series begins Monday night.

1. Weekend thoughts. The Yankees hit 10 home runs in three games in Milwaukee after hitting six home runs on the seven-game homestand, and 10 home runs in the previous 11 games overall. American Family Field is a great home run park and the Yankees didn’t face premium starting pitchers, but the same is true of Yankee Stadium and the recent homestand. The Yankees needed to start slugging and the slug arrived this past weekend. May it continue the rest of the season. Here are a few thoughts on an eventful Brewers series.

The new-look lineup

The offense had been stagnant long enough – the Yankees hit .217/.286/.326 (82 wRC+) and scored 3.14 runs per game on the homestand – that it was time to do something with the lineup, and that something was moving Alex Verdugo into the cleanup spot Saturday. Verdugo clubbed a three-run home run in his first at-bat as the cleanup hitter (video), and the Yankees broke out for 15 runs. Success!

“That four spot is a great spot in the lineup to come up with guys on the bases,” Verdugo told Bryan Hoch after Saturday’s win. “Today we just got it done.”

Verdugo and Juan Soto have been the Yankees’ two best hitters the last few weeks and Soto has stayed in the No. 2 spot while Verdugo most hit seventh, and occasionally sixth. They were so far apart in the lineup that one rarely had a chance to drive in the other. The Yankees had to get their two most effective hitters closer together. I would’ve guessed that meant Verdugo at leadoff, but cleanup it is.

Verdugo hitting cleanup is similar to when Didi Gregorius hit third. Is he a profile middle of the order guy with big power and an imposing presence? Nope, but he is what the Yankees need at this point in time. A good hitter who is swinging the bat well. A lefty who can reliably get the bat on the ball and has enough power to keep pitchers honest. It’s not according to the script, but it’s what's working right now.

The rest of the offense is showing signs. They showed signs early in the homestand and they didn’t really stick, but they’re showing signs again, and this time they’re loud signs with bright neon lights. Aaron Judge hit a monster home run Sunday (video), though I thought the golf shot homer Saturday was more impressive (video):

That’s the kinda homer Judge probably couldn’t hit if his abdominal is bothering him. He went 5-for-8 with two homers the final two games in Milwaukee and, for the first time in 2024, he looked like AARON JUDGE. Not squint your eyes and maybe he’s coming out of it. No, I mean the Aaron Judge who is a threat to hit the ball off the scoreboard every at-bat. I’ve missed that guy. He showed up this weekend.

Anthony Rizzo went deep Saturday and Sunday – Sunday’s was his 300th career homer (video) – and Gleyber Torres finally did something Saturday. He broke the game open with a bases clearing double into the right-center field gap. He fell behind in the count 0-2, fouled away three two-strike pitches, worked it back to 2-2, then shot a liner over the second baseman’s head (video). That is Gleyber at his best.

"Finally I do something for the team, especially in that situation,” Torres told Erik Boland. “A lot of work in the cage, during BP. Finally I saw the result tonight and I feel happy. I think it’s going to be a great night for me resting and try for the same thing tomorrow.”

Torres went 3-for-6 on Saturday, including a single against position player Owen Miller. Hey, whatever helps him feel good at the plate and build confidence (Gleyber went 2-for-5 on Sunday). Same with Austin Wells. He had a walk and two hits Saturday, including a double against Miller. Some of these guys have been so lost at the plate that I’ll take anything that represents a positive. Getting hits against a position player counts as progress.

The Yankees scored 36 runs in three games against the Brewers after scoring 33 runs in their previous 10 games. The 36 runs represent almost one-quarter of their season output (148 runs, so 24.3%). More important than the run total is the fact several key players – Judge, Rizzo, Torres, etc. – just had their best series of 2024. Big test in Baltimore this week. Those guys are hitting their stride just in time. 

On the interference non-call

The Yankees broke Sunday’s game open with a seven-run sixth inning that was aided by a missed call. Judge threw his hand up as he slid into second base on Verdugo’s potential GIDP ball, and deflected the throw from Willy Adames. Instead of bases empty with two outs, there was a runner on first with one out, and the Yankees broke it open from there. The play:

"That's never happened before in my life,” Judge told Hoch. “I've been sliding like that for years (he’s not lying). I was more concerned about how Adames has a great arm. I thought I broke my finger there. There was no concern on my part (about interference). I've been doing that for years."

Rule 6.01(a)(6) says: "If, in the judgment of the umpire, a base runner willfully and deliberately interferes with a batted ball or a fielder in the act of fielding a batted ball with the obvious intent to break up a double play, the ball is dead. The umpire shall call the runner out for interference and also call out the batter-runner because of the action of his teammate.”

It’s a judgment call and, in the judgment of the umpires at the time, Judge did not deliberately interfere with the throw. Only Judge knows if it was deliberate (come on, why else would he slide like this?) and all that matters is the umpires decided no, it was not. It spared the Yankees (yet another) GIDP. After the game, crew chief Andy Fletcher told Curt Hogg they blew it, and should have called interference on Judge.

“On the field we got together and did the best we could to come up with a correct answer. After looking at it on replay, it appears that the call was missed. It was an unnatural part of his slide.”

The umpires botched it and I get why the Brewers are upset, but also there was a runner on first with two outs and a two-strike count that inning. Maybe don’t let seven straight hitters reach with two outs? There’s a point where the blame shifts from the umpires to your players. I don’t know where exactly that point is exactly, but I think we can all agree it’s somewhere in that string of seven straight two-out baserunners.

The Yankees caught a break and took advantage. The non-call went against the Brewers and they let the inning get away from them. That’s baseball. I have a little more empathy if the Brewers had not had ample opportunity to get out of the inning. They melted down and that cost them the game more than the interference non-call.

Rodón rediscovers his slider

The Brewers threw eight righties and a switch-hitter at Carlos Rodón on Saturday, and when I saw the lineup, I thought it was going to be a good test for his new cutter. Turns out it wasn’t a test for the cutter at all. Rodón threw his fewest cutters of the season against Milwaukee, both in terms of actual pitches thrown and percentage of pitches thrown. He instead leaned on his slider. 

“This team’s a really good hitting team. They really are,” Rodón told Greg Joyce after twirling six innings of one-run ball. “They get to the fastball, so in the report we could tell there was some swing-and-miss on sliders. So we wanted to use that in two-strike counts when we’re ahead and it worked out.”

There was indeed swing-and-miss to be had on the slider. Rodón threw 25 sliders, the Brewers swung at 12 of them, and they missed seven times for a 58% whiff rate. They got the bat on his fastball plenty – 17% whiff rate, below the 22% league average on par with his season numbers – but the back foot slider was devastating. Here are the slider whiffs. With one exception, these are perfectly located to righties:

Seven whiffs on the slider equaled Rodón’s total for his previous three starts combined, and they’re his second most with the Yankees. He got eight swings and misses on the slider against the Rays last Aug. 27th. I keep noting Rodón isn’t getting swings and misses with his fastball, but the same was true with his slider going into Saturday. A strikeout pitcher no longer getting whiffs is worrisome!

Rodón had his best slider of the year (his best slider as a Yankee?) against the Brewers and the result was his best start of the season (his best start as a Yankee?). Six innings, two hits, one run (a solo homer), one walk, eight strikeouts against an offense that is fifth in the league in scoring. Rodón finished April on a high note and he’s getting better each time out. The inability to miss bats with the fastball still concerns me, but the end results look like the pitcher the Yankees thought they were getting. 

“I just want him to keep going,” Aaron Boone told Joyce. “He’s not one-dimensional. He’s got different ways of getting you out. Depending on what he’s got that day, he can make adjustments. I thought as the game went on, the stuff ticked up, and he continued to get sharper and a little bit better.”

The new ace reliever

The Yankees needed a laugher and they got it Saturday night. They tagged Joe Ross for seven runs in five innings, then scored eight more against the bullpen. Would you believe Saturday was the first time the Yankees scored 10+ runs in a game since last June 29th against the Athletics? The 108-game streak with single-digit runs was the second longest in franchise history behind a 165-gamer from 1970-71.

(The Yankees dropped another 15 runs on the Brewers on Sunday. It’s the first time the Yankees have scored 10+ runs in back-to-back games since, well, last June 28-29. The last time they scored 10+ runs was also the last time they scored 10+ runs in back-to-back games. This is the first time they’ve scored 15 runs in back-to-back games since July 21-22, 2007, against the Devil Rays.)

The bullpen has worked a lot lately, and after Luke Weaver soaked up two garbage time innings, the 15-1 score allowed the Yankees to comfortably use a position player pitcher. Jose Trevino was asked to throw an inning of mop up duty. He allowed two runs, but who cares? More importantly, Trevino broke out his knuckleball (everyone with the Yankees insists he has a good one). His first 16 pitches were lobs. His last two were knuckleballs. Here’s the second:

"He threw like two today, but his dances a lot. It'd be fun to see him throw a handful of those.” Verdugo told Hoch about Trevino’s knuckleball. Trevino had the PitchCom receiver in his hat too. He was poking at it at one point. Do position player pitchers really need PitchCom? I guess so.

Trevino is the first Yankees position player to pitch in a win since Rocky Colavito on Aug. 25th, 1968. There is a story behind that. Colavito had a great arm and there were always rumors he would pitch earlier in his career with Cleveland, though it never happened. He made one three-inning relief appearance in 1958 and that was it. Colavito was an outfielder and a really good one too. Nine All-Star Games!

Anyway, teams played a lot more doubleheaders back in the day, and at one point in 1968 the Yankees played nine games in a five-day span. Look at this schedule (all home games, so at least there was no travel):

• Friday Aug. 23rd: Doubleheader vs. Tigers

• Saturday, Aug. 24th: One game vs. Tigers

• Sunday, Aug. 25th: Doubleheader vs. Tigers

• Monday, Aug. 26th: Doubleheader vs. Angels

• Tuesday, Aug. 27th: Doubleheader vs. Angels

The first game of the Aug. 25th doubleheader was a bullpen game and bullpens were a lot smaller in those days. Steve Barber started, allowed seven runs in 3.1 innings, then Colavito came out of the bullpen and threw 2.2 innings. The Yankees came back and not only was Colavito credited with the win, he drew a walk and scored the game-winning run. Here’s the box score.

I wasn’t sure Boone would use a position player pitcher because the Yankees have enough injuries already – Oswaldo Cabrera would seem to be a position player pitcher candidate, but the third base depth chart is single ply thin – but I’m glad he did. After a rough loss Friday, a blowout win and a little levity was needed Saturday. Nice work, Jose. Nicer work, offense. 

(Boone said he would have used Trevino to pitch again Sunday had they tacked on a few more runs. Trevino said he was good to go back-to-back days. “And belly-to-belly,” Boone told Max Goodman.)

The Tonkin incident

Annoying loss Friday. Honestly though, I’m okay with Boone not using Clay Holmes for a second inning once the Yankees had taken a one-run lead in the tenth. Holmes had appeared in 12 of 26 games going into Friday, and, as I mentioned last post, Holmes leads all relievers in leverage index. He knows nothing but super stressful innings. The Yankees don’t need to push him so hard on April 26th.

“(Pitch count) matters some, but wasn’t going to go two innings with my closer tonight when he’s been in essentially half our games,” Boone told Joyce. “And especially some of the attrition we’ve had down there in our bullpen. I got to make sure we keep him in a great spot.”

I can’t imagine anyone puts the loss on Michael Tonkin*. The guy had just been claimed on waivers, he's on his third team in two weeks, and the offense gave him little margin of error. Tonkin was put in a very difficult spot and didn’t come through. But why Tonkin before Victor González? Wouldn’t you use González first, then ride Tonkin as the last option until his arm falls off and/or the game ends?

“(González) was all I had left. Tonkin is my length there. And for that righty lane to start the 10th, wanted Tonkin,” Boone told Joyce. That righty lane was Adames and Rhys Hoskins, who are a combined 1-for-22 against lefties this season, and up/down guy Blake Perkins. I dunno. I just consider González the better pitcher and would’ve gone to him in the tenth. Tonkin would have been my last resort.

* Tonkin is the first pitcher to get a loss for the Mets and Yankees in the same season since Armando Benitez in 2003. I absolutely would have gotten that correct if you asked me to guess who it was lol.

Two other things bothered me about Friday’s game. First, why were the outfielders playing so deep with the winning run at third and one out in the 11th inning? They had little chance at a play at the plate here:

To be clear, outfield positioning did not cost the Yankees the game. I just don’t understand it. The outfielders should have been playing in more so they had a chance at a play at the plate on a shallow fly ball. Anything over their heads wins the game anyway. Again, outfield positioning didn’t cost the Yankees the game, but it is something that wasn’t correct. Not sure what you’re defending against there.

And second, the Yankees should have intentionally loaded the bases once the winning run got to third with one out, no? That creates the force at home (and potentially a GIDP). The Yankees couldn’t use a five-man infield because the bench was empty and the outfielders (Soto, Verdugo, Taylor Trammell) are all lefty throwers, and loading the bases forces the pitcher to throw strikes, but it opens up the out at the plate. In a situation that dire, you have to take some risks. Eh, whatever.

As annoying as that loss was, I do understand not pushing Holmes for a second inning. I don’t understand Tonkin over González though, or the outfield positioning or not loading the bases. The offense could have made this all moot by scoring more than one (1) run in two extra innings. The Yankees are 3-15 in extra innings games on the road since 2022, the worst record in baseball. It certainly feels that way.

Miscellany

The Yankees scored one run, three runs, and one run in the three first innings in Milwaukee. They also scored four runs in the first inning against Paul Blackburn last Tuesday, and two runs in the first inning against Joe Boyle last Wednesday. That’s 11 first inning runs in the last six games after six first inning runs total in the previous 23 games. Shoutout to first inning runs. Put points on the board early and make the other team play from behind right away … Four straight mediocre to bad starts from Marcus Stroman. His control was scattershot Sunday and he gave up his fifth home run of the season. He allowed nine homers in 136.2 innings last year, so he’s more than halfway to last year’s total and it’s still April. Not really worried about Stroman. Just annoyed. Couldn’t get through five innings after being handed a 4-0 lead? Come on man … Luis Gil finally gave up a home run. Zero homers allowed in his first four starts and then two homers in the span of six batters Friday. That was bound to happen at some point. Also, why not let a reliever start the sixth inning clean instead of going batter-to-batter with Gil, and pulling him after a leadoff double? That contributed to the Brewers tying the game. Boone always tries to steal outs with his starters. This is Year 7 of this … Anthony Volpe’s walk against position player pitcher Owen Miller on Saturday was his first walk in 57 plate appearances. Since the final game in Cleveland. Volpe has been chasing a bit more lately, and he is putting more balls in play in general, hence the lack of walks. He saw eight three-ball counts in the 57 plate appearances between walks, or 14%. He saw a three-ball count in 40% (!) of his plate appearances before the walk drought. The MLB average is 21%. Bit of a market correction there. Walks or no walks, good to see Volpe go deep and have a good game at the plate Sunday. He needed it … And finally, Jon Berti began a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset on Sunday. He went 0-for-3 and played six innings at third base (and said he felt good). I don’t think we’ll see him in Baltimore. Monday is an off-day in the minors. I’m guessing Berti will play two more rehab games Tuesday and Wednesday, rest Thursday, then rejoin the Yankees when they return home Friday. It’ll be good to have Berti back. Cabrera has leveled off a bit and the Yankees could use a bench upgrade.

Up Next

Four games in Baltimore. Seven days remain in this 17 games in 17 days stretch. It may only be April, but these are four reasonably important games against the Orioles.

• Monday at O’s: RHP Clarke Schmidt vs. RHP Grayson Rodriguez (6:30pm ET)

• Tuesday at O’s: LHP Nestor Cortes vs. RHP Dean Kremer (6:30pm ET)

• Wednesday at O’s: RHP Luis Gil vs. RHP Corbin Burnes (6:30pm ET)

• Thursday at O’s: LHP Carlos Rodón vs. TBA (1pm ET)

The Gil vs. Burnes matchup is so lopsided on paper that I expect the Yankees to win by 10 runs. Baseball can be weird like that. That TBA spot will likely be Kyle Bradish, who has not pitched this year because of a partially torn UCL. He is done with his rehab assignment and ready to rejoin the rotation, and he lines up to start Thursday with an extra day of rest. Cole Irvin lines up to pitch that day too. He’s the backup plan.

The Athletics took two of three from the O’s this weekend, so shoutout to the A’s for playing Baltimore as tough as they played the Yankees last week. Even with the series loss this past weekend, the Orioles have won nine of their last 13 games, and they are second behind the Braves in runs scored per game. They are as good as expected and they will be a handful these next four days.

Splitting these four games is the minimum and I would really like the Yankees to win the series. It’s a long season and there are a lot of games still to play, but these head-to-head matchups are so important. Handle business this week at Camden Yards and life is a little easier down the road.

2. Prospect thoughts. After missing the first week of the season with a stiff neck, OF Spencer Jones is 16-for-46 (.348) with three doubles, one triple, and two homers with Double-A Somerset. His strikeout rate is 23.5% too. That’s way, way better than his 29.0% strikeout rate between High-A and Double-A last year. Jones was great in limited Grapefruit League action and outside evaluators praised the adjustments he made over the winter. It’s only been 51 plate appearances, but what a great start to the season for Jones. Here now a few more thoughts on a few more prospects. 

Vrieling’s breakout

RHP Trystan Vrieling, who fell out of my Top 30 Prospects this year after missing last season with a broken elbow, has been terrific in four starts with Double-A Somerset: 1.88 ERA (2.52 FIP) with 27.8% strikeouts and 6.7% walks in 24 innings. Just one home run allowed too. The start before last, Vrieling struck out six in 7.2 no-hit innings (video). That earned him Eastern League Pitcher of the Week honors.

“I think they feel good about a college kid with a pretty good pedigree who throws strikes,” Matt Blake told Gary Phillips about the decision to push Vrieling to Double-A for what amounts to his pro debut. “They felt good about pushing him a little bit.”

Vrieling, 23, was a third round pick in 2022 and the elbow got healthy in time to make five closely monitored starts in the Arizona Fall League last year. His velocity was mid-90s during his lone Grapefruit League appearance this spring, which is a nice boost from the low-90s at Gonzaga. The Baseball Prospectus crew (subs. req’d) got eyes on Vrieling recently:

(Vrieling is) getting ahead in counts and maintaining velocity deeper into outings, topping out at 95 with solid life up in the zone. The bat-misser is his gyro slider that comes in 7-8 MPH slower than his heater and emphasizes downward action. He missed with the pitch up in the zone over his first couple of starts, but he remedied that on Friday by locating it just off the plate glove side. He’s increased the usage of his change from college and has added a cutter, which serves as his go-to contact suppression offering. Vrieling is less flashy than other Yankees breakout pitchers of years past, like Will Warren and Chase Hampton, but he’s just as likely to become a longtime big leaguer because of his varied arsenal and above-average command.

It has only been four starts, so we’ll see what Vrieling looks like in a few weeks as the workload climbs. The fact he’s pitching as well as he has and looks as good as he does after missing last year with an elbow injury is obviously encouraging though. The Yankees jumped Vrieling over both Single-A levels too. The kid has handled the aggressive assignment very well.

Vrieling doesn’t have to go on the 40-man roster until next offseason, so there’s no need to rush him up to Triple-A. The kid just missed a year. Let him catch his breath in Somerset. Besides, Scranton’s rotation is humming along nicely. At the time of the 2022 draft, Vrieling looked like the kinda build-a-pitcher prospect the Yankees have had success with. It’s working out, albeit a year later than expected because of the injury.

Durbin’s versatility

Organizational favorite IF Caleb Durbin is slashing .296/.426/.469 (138 wRC+) with more walks (17.2%) than strikeouts (11.5%) and a 6.9% swinging strike rate in 26 Triple-A games. His contact quality is not good (83.3 mph exit velocity), though Durbin’s not the kinda hitter you evaluate with exit velocity. He’s a slash-and-dash, grind out at-bats type. You’re not looking for the 5-foot-6 spark plug to take big swings.

The offensive performance is nice, especially since Durbin came into 2024 with only 194 career plate appearances at Double-A. The Triple-A assignment was pretty aggressive, I thought. More notable to me than the slash line are the positions. Here’s where Durbin has played this year:

• 10 starts at second base (his most natural position)

• 6 starts at shortstop

• 4 starts in left field

• 3 starts at third base

• 2 starts at DH

• 1 start in center field

Entering 2024, Durbin had played 103 career games at second base, 28 games at short, 15 games at third, and zero in the outfield. The Yankees brought him to camp as a non-roster player and moved him around a bunch in Spring Training, including sticking him in left field for the first time at any level (college or pro) in Spring Breakout. Durbin’s continued to play all over the infield in Triple-A, plus more left field, and even a little center.

The RailRiders are not brimming with position player prospects. OF Everson Pereira has essentially been the only Top 30 Prospect (among hitters) on the roster because IF Jorbit Vivas has missed so much time with injury. Durbin is not moving around in deference to other, more highly regarded players. He’s moving around because the Yankees like him and want to increase his versatility. They’re preparing him for a big league bench role, clearly.

When will that big league bench role arrive? It depends. Depends on injuries, Durbin’s performance and development in Triple-A, the 40-man roster situation, etc. He has to go on the 40-man after this season and I don’t think the Yankees would hesitate to add him if necessary, but that doesn’t mean they’re ready to put him on just yet. For now, Durbin is working to become more versatile and make himself a more valuable player. He’s hitting well too. That always helps a player’s case.

Rice’s uneven season

Three weeks and change into the Double-A season, C/1B Ben Rice has been on a roller coaster. He went 7-for-39 (.180) with 12 strikeouts in his first nine games. Rice then had a four-game homer streak, during which he went 9-for-17 (.529). An 0-for-11 followed. Now he’s 4-for-11 with two doubles and a homer in his last three games. The slash line works out to .257/.382/.500 (150 wRC+).

I’ve theorized the Yankees sent Rice back to Double-A to avoid the automated strike zone messing with his plate discipline, though it’s probably time to send him up? The Yankees moved 1B T.J. Rumfield up a few weeks ago even though he was largely so-so in Double-A. The RailRiders have three catchers – C Josh Breaux, C Carlos Narváez, C Luis Torrens – and, to get everyone at-bats, Torrens has played second and third base a bunch. The DH spot is a revolving door.

I dunno, it just seems like the Yankees can make room for Rice in Scranton, and get him one step closer to the Bronx. A lefty bat with pull power who can play first base and be the emergency third catcher seems more useful than carrying a second lefty hitting outfielder on the bench, no? Someone to give Anthony Rizzo a break at first base, allow the Yankees to be more aggressive pinch-hitting and pinch-running for their catchers, etc. 

Teams know better than us outsiders when it comes to a player’s readiness to move up to the next level. All I can give you is my opinion, and from where I sit, Rice looks like a player who is spinning his wheels in Double-A and isn’t far away from being a useful bench option at the big league level. Rice will smooth out his performance soon enough. How much longer he stays in Somerset remains to be seen.

Injury updates

OF Jasson Domínguez (elbow) has stretched his throwing out to 135 feet and he is “probably a few weeks away” from rehab games, Aaron Boone told Greg Joyce. The original 9-10 month rehab timetable puts El Marciano on track to return in June or July, and it appears he is right on schedule … SS George Lombard Jr. landed on Low-A Tampa’s 7-day injured list over the weekend. No idea what’s wrong with him or how long he’ll be sidelined. Last year’s first rounder is hitting .237/.438/.271 (133 wRC+). The 25.0% walk rate is inflated by the automated strike zone, though Lombard’s contact quality is solid. Not amazing, but solid. He just has to start elevating (57.5% grounders), which is easier said than done for an 18-year-old in Low-A. May the injury be minor … IF Jorbit Vivas returned from his fractured orbital bone last week, played two games, and is back on Triple-A Scranton’s 7-day injured list. Not sure what’s wrong with him. Hopefully it’s not related to the orbital fracture (the Yankees wouldn't let a player play with a broken bone before it healed, right?) Whatever it is, I hope it’s not serious … Last post I incorrectly noted there was no word when OF Oscar Gonzalez would return from his orbital fracture. I missed that he had started playing rehab games with Low-A Tampa. My bad. Gonzalez is 6-for-20 (.300) with two homers in five games with Tarpons. My guess is he’ll join the RailRiders in Jacksonville when their series begins Tuesday … LHP Kyle Carr exited his April 20th start with the trainer, though apparently it was only a precaution. He made his start as scheduled this past weekend. Carr, last year’s third round pick, has had a rough go of it early this year: 3.77 ERA (6.01 FIP) with more walks (20.9%) than strikeouts (14.9%) through 14.1 High-A innings.

Miscellany

RHP McKinley Moore, who got DFAed when the Yankees claimed Michael Tonkin, cleared waivers and is still with the Yankees as a non-40-man roster player. Figured I should mention that somewhere … Career night for LHP Brock Selvidge on Saturday. He struck out 11, walked zero, and allowed only two hits in seven scoreless innings (video). Selvidge had a 10-strikeout game last June. That’s the only other time he’s struck out more than eight. He has a 1.61 ERA (1.86 FIP) with 29.9% strikeouts and 8.0% walks through four starts and 21 innings … OF Everson Pereira has slugged seven homers in 23 Triple-A games this year, including a few absolute tanks (video). He is top 10 in Triple-A with a 28.3% barrel rate. He’s also running a 37.3% strikeout rate with a 22.8% swinging strike rate, and his contact heat map looks like this:

Egads. Making contact in only one small part of the strike zone is bad news. The swing-and-miss issues that were painfully obvious during his MLB stint last season still exist. This is Pereira’s final minor league option year and it feels like he’s a prime piece of trade bait, but the contact issues aren’t a secret. How much trade value does he have, really? … RHP Will Warren gave up five runs and got one out on Opening Day. In the four starts since, he’s allowed six runs (five earned) total, with stellar strikeout (32.5%) and walk (7.5%) rates. (Yes, a 7.5% walk rate is stellar with the automated strike one. The International League average is 11.7% walks.) The numbers on his stuff are the same as last year – if anything, Warren is getting a little more sweep on his sweeper and a little more run on his two-seamer, putting him even more on the extremes of the horizontal movement spectrum. He’s been great since the Opening Day stinker. Warren looks like an MLB-ready plug-and-play starter whenever the need arises … SS Roderick Arias was running close to a 50% strikeout rate earlier this month, and he’s whittled it down to 37.2%. He’s played 20 games. Cutting them into four equal chunks:

• Games 1-5: 60.9 K%

• Games 6-10: 34.8 K%

• Games 11-15: 26.1 K%

• Games 16-20: 28.0 K%

The first few games were ugly. It’s gotten better though. Arias is hitting .228/.340/.400 (124 wRC+) overall. Contact has been an issue, though overall the kid’s handling himself well as a 19-year-old in Low-A … And finally, RHP Yoendrys Gómez got roughed up for the first time this season on Sunday (four runs in 3.1 innings), though he was very good in his first four starts, including striking out 30.8% of batters faced. He’s done that while working three-ish innings and 60-ish pitches every six days. The Yankees are handling him carefully given his injury history. Gómez is in Triple-A and this is final option year. I wonder how long until they put him in the bullpen full-time and see whether he can be a big league option later this year? His bat-missing ability would be a welcome addition to a contact-oriented relief corps.

(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.)