June 12th, 2023: Offense, Cole, Volpe, Subway Series

John Sterling added to his legend this weekend. A foul ball ricocheted and hit him in the forehead Saturday night, but he shook it off and didn’t miss a pitch. Here’s the video. Sterling was bloodied a bit, otherwise he’s okay, and he called Sunday’s game. “It did not hurt me. That’s the odd thing,” Sterling told Bryan Hoch. Those foul balls into the press level are tough! They disappear behind the overhang of the upper deck, then bam, they’re right on you. Chris Davis hit a ball at me in 2016. I did not make the catch. I got a hand on it and knocked it down in self-defense. I don’t claim to be an athlete. Anyway, here is Tuesday morning’s post Monday afternoon since the Yankees have yet another off-day.

1. Weekend thoughts. A Yankees vs. Red Sox Sunday Night Baseball game ended at 9:56pm ET, and it went to extra innings! I take back everything bad I’ve ever said about Rob Manfred. Okay, I won’t go that far, but the 7pm start times on Sunday and pitch clock have made a huge difference. In the past, Yankees vs. Red Sox on Sunday night meant they were still playing at midnight. Thank goodness that is no more. Here are a few thoughts on the last few games.

The Judge-less offense

Although it’s a beautiful venue, I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive Dodger Stadium for making me watch these Aaron Judge-less Yankees. The offense has been a total drag this last week. The Yankees have scored 21 runs in the seven games without Judge, including seven runs in the three-game series against the Red Sox. Those seven runs, chronologically:

• Solo homer
• Infield single, stolen base, throwing error, run-scoring wild pitch
• Solo homer
• Solo homer
• Single, advance on ground out, single with a run-scoring throwing error
• Walk, automatic double over the side wall, two-run single literally off second base

“Overall I thought we had some decent at-bats, but not enough to really ding (Brayan Bello),” Aaron Boone told Greg Joyce after Sunday’s come-from-ahead loss. “He was kind of in control of the game and we just weren’t able to add on there.”

Bello is the 18th starter to complete seven innings against the Yankees this season, matching last year’s total. Only 12 pitchers did it in 2021. No other team has had more than 15 starters go seven innings against them this season, and that includes miserable offenses like the Athletics, Royals, and Tigers. And the Yankees are firmly among the group of miserable offenses:

• OBP: .301 (27th in MLB)
• wRC+: 98 (20th in MLB)
• Pitches per PA: 3.85 (25th in MLB)
• Platoon advantage: 45.3% of PA (25th in MLB)

A team .301 OBP. Pardon my language but good fucking grief. One regular with a .301 OBP would be bad. An entire team with a .301 OBP is appalling. It’s like the Yankees, or more accurately the people tasked with putting the roster together, forgot the franchise’s identity and what makes a good offense. Getting on base and switch-hitters and lefties who can use the short porch are the kinda things that never go out of style, in any era.

Here’s another number: 16. Know what that is? That’s the number of two-strike foul balls Yankees hitters had during the Red Sox series. The Red Sox had 42. Grinding out at-bats, battling, and making the pitcher work just isn’t a thing the Yankees do. They get their at-bats over quickly. Great for pace of play, bad for scoring runs.

And they’re so damn sloppy! Every single night the Yankees have to overcome the other team and their own careless mistakes, whether it’s Anthony Rizzo getting picked off second base or Gleyber Torres having his head in the clouds and letting a throw get by him. “The little mistakes when we are playing low-scoring, tight games, those are separators sometimes,” Boone, whose teams have specialized in little mistakes for six years now, told Bryan Hoch after Sunday’s loss.

Jake Bauers, Willie Calhoun, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and now Billy McKinney have stepped up and carried the Yankees the last week or so, and, frankly, that’s embarrassing. The organization and the veteran players on the roster, the ones who are supposed to lead the way with Judge sidelined, should be embarrassed. This is what those veterans did during the 2-4 homestand:

• Josh Donaldson: 2-for-18 with two home runs
• DJ LeMahieu: 3-for-15
• Anthony Rizzo: 0-for-19 (currently in a career worst 0-for-24)
• Giancarlo Stanton: 1-for-14
• Gleyber Torres: 4-for-20 with two home runs

Incredibly small time. There’s rising to the occasion and then there’s whatever the Yankees do when faced with a little adversity. If this didn’t look exactly like the second half of last season, or the entirety of 2021, or each of the last six postseasons, it would be easier to chalk this up to baseball being baseball, and the Yankees having a bad week. But this looks all too familiar.

It is a minor miracle the Yankees are 38-29. The record doesn’t match the vibe at all, and that record is a testament to the (short-handed) pitching staff. For all my bitching and moaning, the Yankees refuse to be bad (like bad bad). There’s something in the organization’s DNA that allows the Yankees to remain successful no matter what, at least during the regular season.

Judge shouldn’t come back until Hal Steinbrenner gives him another $360M. This team is lost without him – lost, and also dull and uninteresting – and the Yankees are gradually becoming the East Coast Angels. They have two of the very best players in the world (Judge and Gerrit Cole) at the height of their powers, and a thoroughly insufficient supporting cast. It should not be as simple as Yankees - Judge = Bad and it’s really not, though it certainly feels that way.

A different version of Cole

Other than yet another Rafael Devers homer, Cole had a strong outing Friday, holding the Red Sox to two runs in six innings. He struck out six, which is somewhat notable because it was the sixth time in his last seven starts he failed to strike out more than six batters. Cole already has eight starts this year with six or fewer strikeouts. He had 12 all last year.

As good as Cole has been this season – and a 2.84 ERA (3.69 ERA) in 84.2 innings is fantastic – he is not going about it the same way as in the past. He has been the game’s premier strikeout pitcher since arriving in Houston in 2018. This season Cole’s strikeouts and swinging strikes are down, and his walks are up. The numbers:

Cole’s contact quality allowed is unchanged (if anything, he’s allowing slightly less hard contact this year) and, as the table shows, he’s been a bit more efficient this year, allowing him to go a little deeper into games and throw fewer pitches per batter. Also, Cole’s infield pop up rate is up 30%, and infield pop ups are essentially automatic outs. Here are some more numbers:

• 2021: 320-foot average fly ball distance and 63% of fly balls at 300+ feet
• 2022: 320 and 60%
• 2023: 313 and 57%
• MLB average: 315 and 59%

Cole’s fly ball rate hasn’t changed the last three years, though he is giving up fewer long fly balls this season, and 300 feet is a significant cutoff. Fly balls at 300+ feet have a .354 AVG and 1.257 SLG league-wide. Under 300 feet and it’s .139 AVG and .169 SLG. Makes sense, right? Fly balls under 300 feet rarely go for homers or over an outfielder’s head for extra bases. Here are Cole’s results on fly balls:

• 2021: .308 AVG and .942 SLG
• 2022: .331 AVG and 1.051 SLG
• 2023: .200 AVG and .650 SLG
• MLB average: .268 AVG and .817 SLG

A few weeks ago I noted Cole is morphing into a two-pitch pitcher, leaning mostly on his fastball and slider. That is still true, and the main difference is the fastball. Cole is throwing more of them. His first-pitch fastball rate is up from 49% last year to 62% this year, and look how much more he’s throwing his fastball when he’s ahead in the count:

Typically when the pitcher is ahead in the count, he goes to his breaking ball or changeup to put away a batter who is on the defensive. This year Cole is throwing his fastball a ton when he’s ahead in the count, and that could explain the strikeout decline, no? Fastballs tend to get fewer whiffs than non-fastballs, so he’s allowing more balls in play when ahead in the count.

The decline in strikeouts and fastball velocity, and uptick in walks, could be an indication Cole is starting to decline. This is his age 32 season (he turns 33 in September). CC Sabathia had his last dominant season at age 31. Mike Mussina’s last great season was at age 32, at least until his great farewell season. Cole is at the age when even all-time greats can begin to decline.

That said, I think we’re seeing a different version of Cole rather than the same version of Cole in decline, if that makes sense. There’s been a shift in pitch selection, leading to more contact but not more bad contact. And it’s not like Cole is running a 14% strikeout rate or something. He’s still striking out comfortably more than league average. Would be nice to reduce the walks a bit, though they’re not so high it’s worrisome.

With Cole, I trust him to figure out the best way to remain effective. That doesn’t mean he’ll have a great start every time out or that he’ll execute every pitch perfectly, but he’s so smart that I assume everything he does (like this increase in fastball usage) is done with a specific purpose. Cole’s been really good this year, even though he’s going about it in a slightly different way.

Volpe’s ongoing ineffectiveness

It’s getting to be time to send Anthony Volpe to Triple-A. Sticking with a rookie as he goes through growing pains is one thing. It’s another to ride it out when he’s been one of the very worst hitters in baseball, and is getting worse. There are 162 players with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title. Here are Volpe’s ranks:

• AVG: .186 (160th)
• OBP: .260 (162nd)
• SLG: .345 (151st)
• wRC+: 68 (159th)

Over the last 30 days Volpe’s hit .149/.194/.310 (34 wRC+), so as bad as the season numbers are, he’s been even worse over the last month or so. That’s what’s worrisome: Volpe is getting worse and sinking into a deeper hole. Look at his monthly splits:

• April: .217/.333/.337 (94 wRC+) with 28.7 K% and 14.8 BB%
• May: .174/.216/.376 (58 wRC+) with 31.9 K% and 4.3 BB%
• June: .120/.154/.240 (2 wRC+) with 34.6 K% and 3.8 BB%

If the overall season numbers were exactly the same but that trend was reversed, and Volpe had a 2 wRC+ in April while building up to a 94 wRC+ in June, well okay, that’s progress. Instead, Volpe is going backwards, and we aren’t seeing many (any?) signs of improvement. I have a very hard time believing this much failure is good for a young player. When we start celebrating foul balls (so close to a walk-off homer!), you know things are going poorly.

“I just wanted to be aggressive in my zone. I knew he had good stuff, and he’s had a really, really good career off of his cutter, so I figured I was going to get pitches to hit,” Volpe told Hoch about the near walk-off. “With the game on the line, I wanted to take a shot there. Obviously not the result I wanted, but hopefully there’s a lot more opportunities like that in the future.”

Word is out that Volpe will expand the zone and chase, and, not surprisingly, he’s seeing fewer fastballs and the chase problem is getting:

In recent weeks three different ex-player broadcasters – Barry Larkin, Paul O’Neill, John Smoltz – have pointed out Volpe is opening up early with his hips, making it very difficult to cover the outer half and/or drive the ball with authority. Here are the slowed down GIFs (synced at pitcher release):

Volpe’s hips look to be opening up earlier now than they were in Spring Training. It’s not much, I had to really slow the GIF down to see it, but he is opening up more. Here’s the frame that shows it best (not that it’s a crystal clear image). It’s right as Volpe starts his swing. His hips are rotated enough that you can see more of his belt and, uh, crotchal region:

I’m of the belief teams know things well before broadcasters. I have a hard time believing Larkin, O’Neill, and Smoltz pointing out Volpe is opening up early is new information for the Yankees. They know, but knowing about it and fixing it are different things, and ultimately it is on the player to fix it. The coaches can’t just snap their fingers and correct a mechanical flaw.

It’s difficult to adjust a swing in the middle of the season (there’s a reason swing changes are offseason projects), and that is especially true for a rookie still experiencing everything for the first time. Most nights Volpe is seeing a pitcher(s) for the first time, he’s yet to visit a road city for the second time, etc. Experiencing all that and trying to fix a swing seems overwhelming.

“I don’t necessarily think it’s a swing thing,” Volpe told Hoch. “For me personally, working on mechanics and stuff like that can actually get me in a bad spot. For me, it’s leaning on the really, really good guys in this clubhouse that help me every step of the way. I think I’m definitely making progress.”

I don’t think the Yankees are considering sending Volpe to Triple-A. I think they’re prepared to ride it out with him for at least another few weeks and possibly the rest of the season, which could very well be a mistake. The Yankees of course know better than me. From where I sit, I see a kid who looks increasingly overmatched. A demotion wouldn’t be a punishment. It would be made because it’s best for Volpe (and the Yankees) short and long-term.

(Volpe has not started two of the last six games and three of the last 11 games after not starting only three of the previous 55 games. Are the Yankees cutting back on his playing time because he’s not performing? Because he’s working on stuff behind the scenes? Because he’s banged up? Something else? I dunno.)

The Subway Series

Maybe it’s just me and maybe things will change once the games begin, but it doesn’t feel like there’s much juice to the Subway Series this year, does it? The Yankees are good but not truly great, and the Mets are massively underperforming. Also, no Judge or Pete Alonso. They’re both on the injured list. Here is the MLB home run leaderboard:

1. Pete Alonso: 22
2. Aaron Judge: 19
3. Jorge Soler: 19
4. Max Muncy: 18
5. Matt Olson: 18
6. Shohei Ohtani: 18

A few months ago you could have looked at this series and thought okay, the Yankees and Mets will be two of the best teams in their league, and this will be a potential World Series preview. Now? Eh, not really. The Yankees are in survival mode without Judge and the Mets aren’t even a .500 ballclub. It feels like just another two games on the schedule, but again, that’s just me.

I’m sure I’ll feel differently when the games begin. I hope I do. I don’t have the same anticipation leading into the series that I normally do though, or that I did going into the Dodgers series. The Mets badly need to start stacking wins and the Yankees have to get back to winning series. As far as Subway Series buzz goes, I'm not feeling it. Maybe I’m just old and apathetic.

(My tepid take is the Mets and Padres being mediocre is a bad thing for baseball overall. It’ll just give more ammo to owners who want to cut payroll, or at least stop payrolls from rising.)

Miscellany

I can’t imagine it’s often any team, let alone a contender like the Yankees, starts three outfielders who were non-roster invitees to Spring Training. The Yankees have done it three times in the last five games with Bauers, Calhoun, and McKinney. Those three have been really good lately! I’m not picking on them. Just kinda wild the Yankees have an entire outfield of non-roster invitees in June … As a team, the Yankees are 44-for-61 (72%) stealing bases this year, and Yankees other than Volpe are 30-for-47 (64%). A 64% success rate at a time when the new rules have the MLB success rate up to 80%. This team is unfathomably bad at any little thing that could give them an edge … Shoutout to Domingo Germán (6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K on Saturday) and Clarke Schmidt (5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 K on Sunday), who continue to be really good. Germán has been good all season and Schmidt has really picked it up the last five starts. Even with all the injuries, the Yankees rank fourth in ERA (3.58) and fourth in ERA+ (118). The pitching has been so good, the bullpen especially. Mike King had a bit of a rough week (Sunday wasn’t all his fault), otherwise those dudes have been nails … And finally, does ESPN really need to mic up the catcher and interview him when he’s behind the plate? Do it during that All-Star Game. That’s totally fine. But during a regular season game between division rivals? Mic’d up Jose Trevino wasn’t even entertaining or insightful Sunday. I feel like that’s taking in-game player interviews too far.

2. 2023 draft prospect: Massachusetts HS LHP Thomas White. The 2023 MLB Draft will take place during the All-Star break and the Yankees hold the No. 26 pick. Here are the prospects I’ve already profiled. Some are players the Yankees are reported to have interest in, some are players who fit the team’s M.O., and some are players I happen to like.

Not to be confused with LSU's Tommy Tanks, a 2024 draft prospect, this Thomas White is the best lefty in a draft class that is deep in everything except southpaws. White is the only lefty with clear first round ability in the class, and there’s a good chance this will be the first draft without a college lefty taken in the first round since 1979. Here’s are White’s current draft rankings:

• Baseball America (subs. req’d): No. 14
• ESPN (subs. req’d): No. 38
• FanGraphs: No. 30
• Keith Law (subs. req’d): No. 27
• MLB.com: No. 23

At Perfect Game last summer White sat mid-90s with “up to 23 inches of induced vertical break” on his fastball, which is top of the line. Anything over 19 or so inches of induced vertical break is elite. That’s Cristian Javier and peak Justin Verlander territory. White’s fastball jumps at the top of the zone. Here’s video (his delivery is Waldichukian) and here’s a piece of MLB.com’s free scouting report:

White checks off a lot of boxes in terms of his size, he’s 6-foot-5, his pure stuff and his left-handedness. He was up to 96-97 mph with his fastball over the summer, missing bats with it up in the zone. He couples it with what could be a plus curveball, thrown with high spin rates in the upper-70s. He doesn’t throw it as much yet, but he showed off enough low-80s changeups to give a sense that he’s going to have a very good three-pitch mix in the future.

Everything works well in terms of White’s delivery, and though he did struggle with his command at times over the summer because all of his moving parts can get out of sync, he was repeating well this spring and improved strike-throwing has led to some helium.

Baseball America (subs. req’d) adds “White's arm slot and the way his curveball bends laterally (makes) some scouts think he will eventually add a true slider to his mix.” The Yankees are good at teaching sliders, so White is in their wheelhouse. They aren’t so good at improving command, however, and fastball command is White’s top developmental priority.

For what it’s worth, Keith Law (subs. req’d) mentioned the Yankees were in on White earlier this spring. He’s committed to Vanderbilt and top Vanderbilt recruits tend to get overslot bonuses. I’m not sure the Yankees can make the money work. Their bonus pool is only $5,564,370 and slot for the No. 26 pick is $3,065,000. As the draft’s top lefty with Vanderbilt leverage, White could fetch $4M, maybe even more.

White seems like the kinda prospect who could wind up being the second pick for a team with extra picks, like the Mariners or Pirates. The whole “take a below slot player in the first round and give the savings to top players who fall later” strategy. The Astros and Orioles did it effectively during their rebuilds and other teams have copied it. White seems like a prime candidate.

The Yankees have not taken a pitcher in the first round since 2017 (Clarke Schmidt) and they’ve used their first rounder on a college bat each of the last three years. That said, they took pitchers with their second and third selections the last two drafts, so it’s not like they steer clear of arms in the early rounds completely. White could be someone they like enough to pounce.

The history of the Yankees is built around lefties, both at the plate and on the mound. They win with lefty hitters who send balls into the short porch and lefty pitchers who limit the other team’s ability to hit balls into the short porch. From Lefty Gomez to Whitey Ford to Ron Guidry to Andy Pettitte to CC Sabathia, southpaws have been the backbone of the franchise.

And yet, the Yankees haven’t had many quality lefty pitching prospects this century. Here is the complete list of left-handed pitchers the Yankees have placed on Baseball America’s annual top 100 prospects list in the 2000s:

• Ed Yarnall: No. 55 in 2000
• Brandon Claussen: No. 37 in 2002
• Manny Bañuelos: No. 41 in 2011 and No. 29 in 2012
• Justus Sheffield: No. 91 in 2017 and No. 41 in 2018

Four guys, none of whom had a substantial big league career. The two best lefties to come out of the system since Pettitte are Eric Milton, who never pitched for the Yankees (traded as a prospect for Chuck Knoblauch), and Jordan Montgomery, and it’s not close either. For a franchise built around lefty power and lefty pitching, the Yankees are oddly short on both right now.

You shouldn’t draft for need in the first round. Even the best prospects will spend 2-3 years in the minors and it’s impossible to predict what you’ll need 2-3 years down the line. Take the most talented player and figure out how the pieces fit later. That said, it’s kinda wild the Yankees have had so few quality lefty prospects this century. Seems like something they should prioritize.

Maybe White is the guy who bucks that trend and becomes the next great Yankees lefty. Given the money and the team’s recent draft tendencies, probably not, though the Yankees have been connected to White recently. I wrote him up because he interests me and because I needed a break from writing about shortstops. Not sure White to the Yankees will happen, but maybe.

3. Remembering a random Yankee: Mike Aldrete. The random Yankee series returns today because I got the itch, and because I received a good request recently. The series will go back on hiatus after this (it will return when I get the itch again, basically). Here’s the random Yankee archive. You can find links back to everyone we've covered there.

Aldrete grew up near Monterey, California, and went to Stanford. The Giants selected him in the seventh round of the 1983 draft and, three years later, he made his MLB debut. A lefty hitting first baseman and corner outfielder, Aldrete spent 1986-88 with the Giants, hitting .285/.370/.392 with 14 home runs in 349 games. He was part of their 1989 NLCS team.

Minor trades and free agency took Aldrete from the Giants (1986-88) to the Expos (1989-90) to the Padres (1991) to Cleveland (1991) to the Athletics (1993-95) to the Angels (1995-96). He was a part-time player who never had more than 292 plate appearances in a season from 1989-96, and he even spent a good chunk of time in Triple-A from 1991-93.

Then 35, Aldrete opened the 1996 season with the Angels, though he didn’t play much despite hitting three home runs in his first 11 plate appearances. He pinch-hit a bunch and started only six times in his 59 games on the active roster. In those 59 games Aldrete slashed .150/.239/.400 in 46 plate appearances overall, including a weak .154/.244/.410 in 45 plate appearances against righties. (Good job getting him to the plate with the platoon advantage, Angels.)

The Angels spent most of the mid-1990s as perennial losers and they would eventually go 71-90 in 1996, so of course Aldrete was available. The Yankees, meanwhile, entered June in first place but with a bit of a DH problem. Switch-hitter Ruben Sierra was the team’s primary DH at the time, and he wasn’t all that effective. His numbers with the Yankees in 1996:

• vs. RHP: .239/.322/.406 in 273 PA
• vs. LHP: .298/.336/.397 in 180 PA

On June 12th, the Yankees acquired Aldrete from the Angels for journeyman lefty reliever Rich Monteleone, who had big league time (including with the Yankees from 1990-93) but was stuck in Triple-A in 1996. The Angels needed a spare bullpen arm, the Yankees needed a spare lefty bat, so Aldrete for Monteleone happened.

“We could use a left-handed bat off the bench late in games,” Joe Torre told the Hartford Courant after the trade.

Aldrete went 0-for-4 on June 14th, his first game as a Yankee, and he did not play again until June 21st, in the first game of a doubleheader in Cleveland. With the Yankees trailing 6-4 in the ninth, Aldrete pinch-hit for Andy Fox with a runner on first and no outs. He singled against Jose Mesa, was replaced by pinch-runner Matt Howard, and Howard eventually scored the tying run on a Tino Martinez ground out. The Yankees won the game 8-7 in 10 innings.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Aldrete got the start at DH, and went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk against righty Julian Tavarez. He was back at DH the next day, and went 1-for-4 with a walk against Dennis Martinez. Aldrete started to get more playing time, and from July 1-4, he went 9-for-16 (.563) with a double and two homers in a six-game span.

“I feel I've been a contributor,” Aldrete told Jason Diamos in the middle of that hot streak. “I can live with that.”

Despite Aldrete’s initial success, and despite GM Bob Watson’s ongoing trade talks with the Tigers about Cecil Fielder, George Steinbrenner signed Darryl Strawberry out of the independent Northern League on July 6th. He was hitting .435/.538/1.000 with 18 home runs with the St. Paul Saints at the time. The plan was to send Strawberry to Triple-A to get more at-bats.

That didn’t last long. Strawberry, who performed well during a short stint with the Yankees in 1995, hit three homers in his first two games with Triple-A Columbus, so the Yankees brought him up. "I thought about it last night and I suggested to Bob Watson that we just do it … There's a right-hander pitching tomorrow and that's part of my thinking,” Torre told the Associated Press.

Strawberry’s arrival cut into Aldrete’s playing time, so much so that he received only 21 plate appearances in the first 23 games after Strawberry was called up. He fell so far down the depth chart that, on July 18th, the Yankees used Aldrete to pitch the eighth inning of a 16-4 loss in Milwaukee. He retired three of the four batters he faced in his only career pitching appearance, and was the only Yankees pitcher to not allow a run that day.

(This was back when using a position player to pitch was seen as the ultimate humiliation. Now it’s a strategy. Aldrete was the first position player to pitch for the Yankees since Alvaro Espinoza in 1991, and one of only two position players to pitch for the Yankees from 1991-2009, along with Wade Boggs in 1997.)

Playing time all but dried up for Aldrete after the Yankees acquired Fielder (for Sierra and prospect Matt Drews) at the trade deadline. Fielder took over as the primary DH and made some starts at first base. Strawberry shifted to left field and got the occasional DH start. Aldrete was a man without a role and he landed on the injured list with wrist inflammation on Aug. 12th, when Tim Raines returned from a hamstring injury.

“Tim will have to work off the bench for now,” Torre told the Hartford Courant about Raines assuming Aldrete’s roster spot and role as the guy without a defined role. “He can play in the outfield when we want to rest someone and give us some depth. This guy is a player, not a bench guy.”

It was never confirmed or admitted, but it is widely believed Aldrete’s wrist injury was either very minor or fake, and it was a phantom injured list stint to get him off the active roster without putting him on waivers. Aldrete was activated on Sept. 1st, the day rosters expanded, so yeah. He conveniently got hurt the day the Yankees needed a roster spot for Raines and conveniently was ready to be activated the day rosters expanded.

All told, Aldrete hit .250/.338/.456 with three homers in 77 plate appearances with the Yankees, including .276/.333/.517 with all three homers in 63 plate appearances against righties. Not bad for a spare part platoon bat! Because pitching staffs were smaller at the time, the Yankees had room to carry Aldrete on their postseason roster in 1996. He got into three games.

ALCS Game 1: Pinch-hit for Jim Leyritz against righty Terry Mathews, but when Orioles manager Davey Johnson replaced Mathews with lefty Randy Myers, Torre pinch-hit Joe Girardi for Aldrete. Girardi lined into a double play with the score tied 4-4 in the ninth. The Yankees won the game on a Bernie Williams walk-off homer in the 11th.

World Series Game 1: Replaced Paul O’Neill in right field in the top of the ninth inning with the Yankees trailing 12-1, just to give O’Neill a breather. Aldrete was due to lead off the bottom of the ninth, but Charlie Hayes was sent up as a pinch-hitter against lefty Terrell Wade.

World Series Game 4: Pinch-hit for the pitcher (Jeff Nelson) in the eighth inning. Aldrete was the first batter after Leyritz hit his series-altering homer. He grounded out to short and was replaced by Mariano Rivera in the next inning. The Yankees won that game in 10 innings.

With the Yankees, Aldrete's postseason action featured one inning in the field and one at-bat, and of course one World Series ring. Not too shabby.

Aldrete signed with the Blue Jays that winter, hit .297/.424/.365 in Triple-A in 1997, then retired after the season. He got into coaching soon thereafter and has worked in several big league roles with the Mariners (2004), Diamondbacks (2005-06), Cardinals (2008-14), and Athletics (2015 to present). Aldrete is currently Oakland’s first base coach.

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