May 9th, 2023: Rays series, Judge, King, Defense, Rodón, Prospects

Vida Blue, a key member of the 1972-74 A’s dynasty, passed away over the weekend. He was 73. Blue has an interesting place in Yankees history. He and Athletics owner Charlie Finley hated each other – "I hope the next breath Charlie Finley takes is his last. I hope he falls flat on his face and dies of polio," Blue once said – and Finley sold Blue to the Yankees for $1.5M in June 1976. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed the deal, however, and Blue never did pitch for the Yankees. He was named AL Cy Young and MVP in 1971 (1.82 ERA in 312 innings!), became the first pitcher to start the All-Star Game for both leagues, and is the last switch-hitter to be named AL MVP. Blue is one of those guys I wish I was around to see at his peak. Rest in peace, Vida. Let’s get to today’s post.

1. Weekend thoughts. It is May 9th and the Yankees still have not won more than two games in a row. They’ve played 36 games. In 2016, they won three games in a row for the first time as part of a five-game winning streak from Games 39-43. Prior to 2016, the last time the Yankees went 35 games into the season without a three-game winning streak was 1925. That team went 69-85 and did not have its first winning streak of at least three games until a four-gamer from Games 95-99. Not keeping great company, guys. Here are a few thoughts on the last few games.

Defeat from the jaws of victory

Following the best win of the season with the worst loss of the season feels about right for the 2023 Yankees. A spirited late inning comeback Saturday snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, and when the Yankees took a 6-0 lead with Gerrit Cole on the mound Sunday, I allowed myself to think good thoughts. Close it out, beat up on the Athletics, and go on a run. You know?

Instead, that 6-0 lead vanished in the span of nine batters, the Rays took the lead on the kind of sloppy defensive play that has been a constant in the Aaron Boone era, and then the Yankees lost in the tenth because the top of the lineup had some truly terrible at-bats with the automatic runner at second in the top in the inning. Take strikes, swing at balls:

The blame starts with Cole. He’s been amazing this year, still the best pitcher in the league even after Sunday’s game, but the ace can’t blow a 6-0 lead to one of the teams you’re chasing in the standings. Cole rules, but let’s call a spade a spade here. He melted down. The Yankees entered the sixth inning with a four-run lead and an 88.0% win probability, then poof. Gone.

“That’s awful,” Cole told Bryan Hoch after the game. “I’ve got to find a way to do a better job to get us out of there and get us a little bit deeper and prevent the runs. The lack of command really burned us, and balls over the plate were touched.”

The blame continues with Boone. Can he once in his managerial life process what’s going on in front of him and adjust? This was Cole’s meltdown:

• Jose Siri: 104.8 mph home run (Yankees lead 6-1)
• Yandy Díaz: 113.0 mph single
• Wander Franco: 91.7 mph infield single leads to error (Yankees lead 6-2)
• Randy Arozarena: six-pitch strikeout
• Brandon Lowe: four-pitch strikeout (fifth inning over)
• Harold Ramírez: 104.3 mph double
• Isaac Paredes: 102.2 mph double (Yankees lead 6-3)
• Manuel Margot: eight-pitch walk
• Christian Bethancourt: 103.9 mph homer (game tied 6-6)

Call me crazy, but when the starter is laboring the third time through the order and gives up four 100 mph batted balls in the span of seven batters, the manager should understand he’s losing it and the bullpen is needed. Instead, Cole continued for another two batters, and the 6-0 lead vanished. The blame starts with the guy on the mound, but the manager did him no favors.

“In hindsight, I probably should have gotten him (after the Ramírez and Paredes doubles),” Boone told Hoch. “He’s our ace, and he’s been so good managing situations this year. Even in the outings where he’s had a little bit of trouble, I feel like he’s done a great job navigating.”

(The Rays were so on Cole that I thought he might have been tipping his pitches. The swings and takes were that comfortable. Going back and watching it, Cole just made a lot of mistakes over the plate. The hitters don’t need a tell when you’re giving them hangers.)

The blown 6-0 lead is the Yankees’ biggest blown lead since Sept. 10th, 2019, when they turned a 6-0 lead into a 12-11 loss to the Tigers. Here’s the box score. Apparently Chance Adams gave up a walk-off single. Here’s the video so you can see for yourself. I don’t remember that game at all. I guess that means I’ll forget Sunday’s game in four years. Here’s the win probability graph:

And you know what the worst part is? Rays manager Kevin Cash waved the white flag when he left Josh Fleming out there. Fleming allowed three runs in his second inning and two more runs in his third inning, yet he remained in the game to throw five innings and spare the bullpen. Cash essentially conceded and let Fleming wear it. And the Yankees lost anyway.

The Yankees deserve credit for playing the Rays tough, all three games were winnable, but the Yankees – the last place New York Yankees – need actual victories, not moral victories. “We lost but it was close” doesn’t cut it for me after blowing a 6-0 lead, sorry. Good teams find ways to win games and bad teams find ways to lose games. It was very evident Sunday.

“We’re obviously fighting, and a little beat up,” Boone told Hoch. “It’s difficult when you play pretty well and lose two out of three to a division rival, but we’re getting there.”

Judge set to return

All signs point to Aaron Judge coming off the injured list Tuesday, the first day he is eligible. Judge said he has no discomfort in his hip and he’s coming back, though Boone hedged a bit, saying Judge needs to come through his pregame work in one piece. So, barring a last minute setback, the Captain will be in the lineup Tuesday night for the first time in close to two weeks.

“MVP back. It will be fun to write his name in the lineup,” Boone told Ryan Dunleavy on Monday. “There’s just that presence he has and being one of our leaders. Guys look to him. I think there is a tangible element to him being back in there, but I think there also is an intangible element that he brings.”

Judge has been hitting and working out the last several days and I think he took a few live at-bats against minor leaguers at the complex in Tampa this past weekend. He didn’t go out on a rehab assignment (I’m sure the affiliates were all hoping for a Judge rehab stint and the attendance boost) but it’s not like he’s spent the last week sitting around. He’s ready.

All told, Judge missed 10 games and in those 10 games the Yankees scored 35 runs, and that’s after scoring seven runs in each of the last two games. The outfielders hit .200/.220/.410 during those 10 games and that’s boosted by two homers and a triple from the outfielders Monday. So yes, the offense without Judge was bad. It’s incredible how much the Yankees rely on him.

As for the roster move, I gotta think Oswald Peraza is going to Triple-A. The Yankees were cagey about Peraza’s availability over the weekend after he jammed his ankle stumbling into second base Wednesday, and he hasn’t taken an at-bat since last Monday. Even before the ankle, he’d started only 10 of 17 games since being called up. Peraza is a player without a defined role.

Releasing Aaron Hicks isn’t happening, especially given his little two-game hot streak. There is some merit to sending Oswaldo Cabrera down, though he’s shown some signs of life the last few games. Jake Bauers? Willie Calhoun? Isiah Kiner-Falefa? Hard to see the Yankees cutting ties with any of them when there’s a perfectly good Peraza waiting to be sent down.

“We’ll make the best decision that we think is best for the team,” Boone told Greg Joyce over the weekend when asked about the roster move to clear a spot for Judge.

Peraza is likely to be sent down and Judge will be back Tuesday night, and the Yankees are as close to whole as they will be offensively for the foreseeable future. Giancarlo Stanton is still weeks away and Josh Donaldson is not yet ready to start a rehab assignment. Judge is back and Harrison Bader is back. This the best the Yankees can do for the next little while.

(The Yankees sent Nick Ramirez down following Monday’s game, though I doubt that’s the move for Judge. They’re probably just bringing up a fresh arm after Ramirez threw two innings and 35 pitches last night. I think Greg Weissert is still in his 15-day waiting period, so maybe Colten Brewer? Jonathan Loáisiga or Carlos Rodón could go on the 60-day injured list to make the 40-man roster work. We’ll see.)

On King’s usage

Friday was the second time in two weeks Mike King warmed up while a lesser pitcher faced the top of the lineup in a tie game, then came in after that lesser pitcher coughed it up. On April 23rd, it was Clarke Schmidt going through the lineup a third time and giving up back-to-back dingers to Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho. King then replaced Schmidt with the Yankees down three.

On Friday, Jimmy Cordero allowed the game-losing double – it was scored a double but it should have been an error on Bauers considering it clanked in and out of his glove (and he kicked the ball around) – then King entered with the Yankees down a run. Cordero’s been great! But he’s not King, and if you’re committed to using King as the Yankees obviously were in that game, why wouldn’t you use him against the top of the lineup?

(And let’s not forget King warming up in the seventh and eighth innings of the first game of the Guardians series, only to never be used while Clay Holmes blew it in the ninth.)

Boone and the Yankees are handling King carefully following his elbow fracture, as they should, but the issue is not his workload. It’s how he’s been used in the games he does pitch. That’s twice in two weeks now King wound up in a game with the Yankees trailing and not facing the other team’s best hitters despite being ready when the score was tied. See the problem?

“I think the biggest thing is finding as many high leverage spots for him as possible,” pitching coach Matt Blake told Mark Sanchez about King’s usage over the weekend.

When you’re as short-handed as the Yankees are all over the roster (lineup, rotation, bullpen), the decision-making becomes that much more important, and the decision-making is lacking. The bullpen management (i.e. letting lesser pitchers blow games while King waits in the bullpen) is the most in-your-face example, but the personnel decisions are lacking too. This is not an especially strong roster, and the strongest pieces on the roster are not used in the best way.

(There’s chatter about changing King’s role and turning him into a traditional short reliever rather than a multi-inning guy. I’m on the fence about that. He’s so valuable as this 2-3 inning dominator, but there’s also something to be said for having him available to impact more games. Are 2-3 innings every third day more preferable than two one-inning outings every four days? I dunno.)

Cabrera at third and IKF in right, then vice versa

I am fascinated by the decision to start Cabrera at third base and Kiner-Falefa in right field on Sunday, then Kiner-Falefa at third and Cabrera in right on Monday. Kiner-Falefa went into Sunday’s game with three career innings in right field, minors included, and those three innings came Saturday afternoon, after he entered the game as a pinch-hitter.

Cabrera is a natural infielder, so putting him at third base is no big deal, but he is way more experienced in right field (not that he has a ton of experience there) than Kiner-Falefa. And Kiner-Falefa has a Gold Glove at third! Granted, it was four years ago in a 60-game season in which Gold Gloves were awarded using stats only*, but still, a Gold Glove.

* Clint Frazier was a Gold Glove finalist that season, just to give you an idea of how reliable the Gold Glove awards were in the pandemic season.

Based on that, it seems to me Cabrera in right and Kiner-Falefa at third was the way to go, which is how the Yankees had them aligned Monday. But Sunday? I think one of two things happened. Either Boone and the Yankees goofed and used the wrong alignment Sunday, or they used the alignments that made the most sense based on pitcher and hitter batted ball tendencies each day. The latter seems way, way more likely than the former to me.

On Sunday, the right-handed Cole faced a Rays lineup with only two lefties/switch-hitters. On Monday, the left-handed Nestor Cortes faced an Athletics lineup with nine righties. Cole and Cortes both faced predominantly right-handed lineups. Here are their spray charts against righties dating back to last Opening Day (full-size image):

Cole and Cortes both get righties to roll over on a lot of pitches to the left side, and Cole generally allows fewer fly balls to right field. Based on that, it would be easier to hide an inexperienced player in right field when Cole started Sunday rather than when Cortes started Monday, which I guess is why Kiner-Falefa was in right for Cole and Cabrera was in right for Cortes?

But shouldn’t third base defense be the driving factor here lol? Just looking at third base vs. right field, Cole and Cortes are more likely to get right-handed hitters to hit the ball toward third base than right field. Maybe the tendencies of the Rays and Athletics hitters drove these decisions, but for Cole and Cortes, it felt like the better defender should have been at third base for both games rather than Cabrera and Kiner-Falefa flip-flopping.

I don’t know why I even bothered to write about this. It’s just so weird! It has to be matchups and pitcher/hitter batted ball tendencies. I refuse to believe the Yankees ran Cabrera out there at third and Kiner-Falefa out there in right on Sunday and said whoops, that’s backwards, and corrected course Monday. What a funky little piece of defensive positioning.

Miscellany

The Athletics are so bad they gave up a home run to Hicks! Poor JP Sears is up to 10 homers allowed in 37.1 innings (2.41 HR/9), all to right-handed batters. Monday was the Yankees’ first four-homer game since last Sept. 18th in Milwaukee. It was only the third time they had four extra-base hits in the last 21 games. That’s hard to believe, but it’s true … So I guess postseason Bader is the real Bader, eh? Neat. He went 6-for-11 with a triple and two homers in the Rays series and didn’t even start the middle game, then he tripled Monday night against the A’s. Bader is back and making an impact. The Yankees have certainly needed the jolt … And finally, Kyle Higashioka forgetting the count in the first inning Saturday is a bad, bad look. Anthony Rizzo even gave him a talking to in the dugout afterward (video). Higashioka called for the putaway breaking ball in what he thought was a two-strike count, wasting the opportunity to use it in the actual two-strike count, then bang, two-run double. DJ LeMahieu couldn’t handle the ball at third, though that’s a physical mistake. They happen. The mental mistake of the defense-first backup catcher not knowing the count (!) is much tougher to forgive. Clean it up, Higgy.

2. Rodón’s chronic back issue. Despite Aaron Boone’s continued insistence it is only a minor issue, the trouble with Carlos Rodón’s back is only getting worse. Rodón will receive some kind of injection Tuesday (cortisone? epidural? who knows!) and will be shut down however long he needs to be shut down for it to kick in. His throwing program is on pause.

“I’ll get this injection and I’ll want to throw as soon as I can. Whenever my body tells me I can throw and everyone comes to an agreement that I can throw, I’ll start throwing,” Rodón told Bryan Hoch over the weekend. “... It really sucks. I want to be pitching for the New York Yankees. I want to be pitching in this (Rays) series, and with the boys. I want to be competing. It’s hard to sit here and not be doing it.”

Rodón described the injury as “restriction” and “tightness” rather than pain, and it is hampering his mechanics when he tries to throw. “I was telling Gerrit (Cole), I’d throw a fastball and it would cut two feet, or I’d throw a sinker. And I don’t throw sinkers. The release height is just not normal, because my body is not letting me get to positions I’d normally get to,” he told Hoch.

Rodón also said he was told his back problem is chronic and that’s a scary word. Backs usually don’t get better. They have to be managed, and we’re not even six weeks into Rodón’s six-year contract*. Also, this is the first time Rodón’s had back trouble. He has a long injury history but it’s all arm issues. Now we have to worry about arm injuries, a back injury, and his back altering his mechanics to the point where he’s not the same pitcher he was from 2021-22. Great.

* I don’t know whether the Yankees have insurance on Rodón’s contract (the premiums may have been so high given his injury history that they skipped it) but it’s irrelevant anyway. He still counts full freight against the luxury tax payroll, and the Yankees didn’t put Jacoby Ellsbury’s insurance money back into the roster. Why would I expect them to do it with Rodón’s?

The best case scenario is what, a return in mid June? Assuming Rodón gets the green light to begin throwing this weekend, he’s looking at three weeks of bullpen sessions and live batting practice, then at least three rehab starts, I would think. At this point Rodon has to go through an entire Spring Training to build up. So yeah, mid June is probably the best case.

Rodón’s setback comes at a time when the rotation cracks are really starting to show. Sunday’s clunker aside, Cole has been fantastic. Otherwise Nestor Cortes and Domingo Germán have been good more than great, Jhony Brito walks a tightrope each start, and Clarke Schmidt has mostly been bad. The rotation numbers entering Monday’s game:

• IP per start: 5.14 (19th in MLB)
• ERA: 4.30 (15th)
• FIP: 4.23 (13th)
• K%: 25.5% (3rd)
• BB%: 7.7% (13th)
• wOBA allowed: .314 (13th)
• WAR: +2.8 (13th)

Considering who the Yankees are missing, a middle of the pack rotation is actually kinda good, though pairing a middle of the pack rotation with a bottom 10 offense is how you wind up in last place in the league’s toughest division. Injuries or no injuries, a middle of pack rotation is not good enough for a Yankees team built around run prevention. They gotta get healthy.

Luis Severino will make a rehab start later this week (the Yankees had him throw another live batting practice last week rather than start a rehab assignment) so figure he’s two weeks away. Severino is the cavalry. Rodón can’t even throw a proper bullpen session yet. No sense in getting excited for him to join the Yankees when he’s not throwing. It’ll happen when it happens.

The Yankees signed Rodón with the idea of pairing him with Cole in the postseason, and that’s all well and good, but we’re approaching the point where the Yankees will need Rodón just to get to the postseason. There’s 10 teams within six games of a Wild Card spot right now and the Yankees are in that group. The longer it takes to separate from the pack, the more difficult it will be.

For better or worse, the Yankees built their roster around high-ceiling players and were willing to assume injury risk to get those high-ceiling players, and they are losing those injury bets. Newcomers Rodón and Frankie Montas are hurt with no firm timetable for their returns, and incumbents Severino and Giancarlo Stanton are out too. That’s a lot of impact talent on the shelf, meaningfully hurting the team’s outlook.

The first few weeks of the Rodón era are a little too Carl Pavano-y for me (Carlos Pavano?). It’s been one thing after another and the Yankees continue to downplay it, and it doesn’t help that he was the only significant addition in the offseason. The team on the field right now is a thinned out version of last year’s team and it is not fun. Hopefully Rodón gets healthy soon. For a bit there he seemed like a luxury signing. Now it’s becoming clear he’s a necessity.

“It’s hard to look back and say, ‘What if I was there?’ Well, I wasn’t,” Rodon told Greg Joyce about the team’s place in the standings. “We’re here now and obviously I’m still not pitching. It is May 5th and this is the New York Yankees. This team’s really good. There’s a little hole here, but I think it’s easy to climb out of.”

3. Prospect thoughts. Cool highlight alert: OF Jasson Domínguez and C Austin Wells hit back-to-back home runs Saturday. Here’s the video. Domínguez’s statistically weird season has continued since I last wrote about him. He’s hitting .169 with a .200 BABIP, but also drawing a ton of walks (24.7%, equal to his strikeout rate) with a .197 ISO that is excellent for a 20-year-old in Double-A. Domínguez entered 2023 with a career .350 BABIP and it’s common for top prospects to run BABIPs we’d consider abnormally high for a big leaguer. Get back to a normal BABIP and Domínguez’s slash line is closer to .280/.400/.500 than the .169/.381/.366 (119 wRC+) it is now. Anyway, here are a few prospect thoughts.

A bounce back season for Vargas?

Five years ago the Yankees gave SS Alex Vargas a $2.5M bonus and for a time he was among the better prospects in the system. He had an awful season with Low-A Tampa last year though, slashing .203/.271/.311 (68 wRC+) with an 84.0 mph average exit velocity. The best thing anyone could say about him was that he was still super athletic. That’s about it.

Vargas tumbled down prospect lists (I had him at No. 30) but now he’s climbing his way back up. Maybe? Possibly? I hope so. Vargas is hitting .263/.341/.553 (130 wRC+) with High-A Hudson Valley, and he’s already hit five home runs this year after hitting eight home runs all last year. He had a two-homer game recently too (video). The underlying numbers:

• Strikeout rate: 28.5% in 2022 to 23.5% in 2023
• Walk rate: 8.1% to 9.4%
• Swinging strike rate: 15.3% to 11.8%

Those are meaningful improvements considering Vargas moved up to High-A Hudson Valley this year. Cutting down on strikeouts and swings and misses after being promoted is always a plus.

The Yankees put Vargas on a strength training program over the winter and he came to camp in great shape, and I’ve been told there’s been an uptick in exit velocity. I don’t know what that uptick is exactly because we don't have High-A Statcast, but that’s what I’ve been told. Vargas simply wasn’t strong enough to handle Low-A pitching last year, so everyone got together and developed a plan to correct that.

Vargas is still only 21. He’s been around a while now but these international prospects sign so young that they’re barely old enough to buy alcohol when prospect fatigue sets in. If nothing else, Vargas is having a great start after such a miserable season a year ago. Hopefully the added strength changes his outlook and Vargas is truly on the rise. That would be a welcome development.

Serna’s monster season

RHP Luis Serna, my No. 12 prospect, has a shoulder problem and is hiding away in Extended Spring Training. The 18-year-old has yet to pitch in an official game this year. His older cousin, IF Jared Serna, was one of my Not Top 30 Prospects and he’s been incredible with Low-A Tampa: .377/.473/.558 (186 wRC+) with 7.7% strikeouts, 14.3% walks, and 5.0% swinging strikes.

Because Serna, 21 next month, is in the Low-A Florida State League, we have Statcast data. His exit velocity is better than the league average but not top of the scale:

• Average exit velocity: 87.4 mph (FSL average: 86.0 mph)
• Hard-hit rate: 43.5% (FSL average: 31.4%)
• Barrel rate: 14.5% (FSL average: 13.5%)

Serna definitely knows the strike zone and can get the bat on the ball. The contact quality is good but not overwhelming, and he’s not much of a defender (he’s played primarily second base), so he’ll have to hit and hit a lot to stay on the prospect map. Serna is age appropriate for Low-A and, if he continues like this, a promotion to High-A Hudson Valley should come in a few weeks.

Emerging arms

Calling these guys “emerging arms” isn’t quite accurate because a few of them already rank among my Top 30 Prospects (in the top half too). These are just a few pitchers I want to touch on quickly, so let’s do that now (listed alphabetically).

RHP Clayton Beeter (video): The reports on Beeter have been really, really good this season. For the first time basically ever he looks like he has a chance to start. His 10.6% walk rate is still a bit too high, though one rough start is skewing that (five walks in four innings), otherwise Beeter is effectively using four pitches (four-seamer, slider, curveball, changeup) and missing bats (30.1% strikeouts and 16.3% swinging strikes) and learning how to be more efficient. The Dodgers capped Beeter at four innings and 70 pitches for whatever reason. The Yankees have taken the training wheels off and Beeter regularly goes 90+ pitches and has worked as deep as 6.2 innings this year. I’m not sold on him as a starter just yet, but there has been real improvement here.

RHP Chase Hampton (video): Hampton, last year’s sixth rounder, is a decent bet to follow the LHP Ken Waldichuk/RHP Will Warren/RHP Hayden Wesneski path and go from mid-round pick to quality pitching prospect. Hampton is running a 40.4% strikeout rate and 21.2% swinging strike rate with High-A Hudson Valley, and he’s more 95-97 mph now after coming out of college at 92-95 mph. He’s still trying to settle on a consistent breaking ball (he throws both a slider and curveball right now) and improve his changeup, but Hampton’s velocity is up and he already looks quite a bit better than he did at this time last year.

RHP Zach Messinger (video): Messenger was on my list of Not Top 30 Prospects candidates because I’d heard good things, but I passed because he split last season between the rotation and bullpen with Low-A Tampa, walked more than you’d like (12.5%), and was age appropriate for the level (rather than young for the level). That was a mistake. I should have Not Top 30ed him. The Yankees moved Messinger, their 2021 13th round pick, up to High-A Hudson Valley this season and he’s gotten the walks under control (8.8%), and is running a 30.4% strikeout rate and 14.3% swinging strike rate. Messinger is a big dude (listed at 6-foot-6 and 225 lbs.) with four pitches (low-to-mid-90s fastball, sweeper, curveball, changeup). The arrow is pointing up.

RHP Drew Thorpe (video): Single-A infielders have done Thorpe no favors. Last year’s second round pick has allowed more hits (26) than innings (25.2) thanks to a .381 BABIP on a 47.6% ground ball rate. Thorpe is missing bats (30.4% strikeouts and 15.0% swinging strikes) and his 10.8% walk rate is actually below the 12.1% High-A South Atlantic League average. Still, the walk rate is higher than you’d like for a guy who was billed as having arguably the best command in the draft class last year. Thorpe got roughed up for six runs in 3.2 innings Sunday and has a 4.56 ERA (3.65 FIP) on the season, though he’s been better than that (but not great). I’d like to see him cut down on those walks, and the defense making a few more plays behind him wouldn’t hurt either. Thorpe’s promotion to Double-A Somerset may not be as quick as I expected coming into the season. He might be in Hudson Valley another 2-3 months.

Miscellany

SS Trey Sweeney is hitting .268/.384/.378 (122 wRC+) with excellent walk (15.2%) and swinging strike (8.8%) rates with Double-A Somerset. Only one homer though. That’s despite a 33.3% ground ball rate and a 47.6% pull rate, a batted ball profile typically conducive to dingers. It wouldn’t surprise me if the home runs come in bunches soon. Sweeney’s microscopic 3.8% HR/FB rate won’t last as long as he keeps pulling the ball in the air … LHP Matt Krook is still on the Triple-A injured list, though it appears to be a minor injury. Man on the scene Conor Foley says it’s lower back tightness and Krook has been playing catch. Doesn’t seem like he’ll be down long, so that’s good news for the pitching depth situation … Here is the minor league wRC+ leaderboard (min. 70 plate appearances, all levels and all ages):

1. 3B/OF Sterlin Thompson, Rockies: 233 wRC+
2. OF Aaron Palensky, Yankees: 230 wRC+
3. IF Austin Gauthier, Dodgers: 223 wRC+
4. 3B Michael Curialle, Cardinals: 218 wRC+
5. UTIL Phillip Evans, Diamondbacks: 207 wRC+

The Yankees signed Palensky as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and he’s hitting .379/.453/.864 (230 wRC+) with nine homers and an 18.7% strikeout rate with High-A Hudson Valley. He’s also repeating the level after hitting .251/.369/.475 (131 wRC+) there last season, and, at age 24, is nearly two years older than the average South Atlantic League player. Palensky is an organizational outfielder more than a breakout prospect, but still, props on the great season. He’s been the best hitter in the system and one of the very best in the minors this year … RHP Wilking Rodriguez, who the Cardinals took from the Yankees in the Rule 5 Draft, had shoulder surgery recently and will likely miss the rest of the season, according to Derrick Goold. He hasn’t pitched at all this year and will need to spend 90 days on the active MLB roster to satisfy the Rule 5 Draft rules next year. That said, Rodriguez is already 33. Decent chance the Cardinals drop him from the 40-man roster after the season. I don’t expect him to wind up back with the Yankees either way … And finally, an update on the sticky ball experiment in the Double-A Southern League: 28.9% strikeouts and 12.0% walks compared to 24.9% strikeouts and 11.4% walks in the other Double-A leagues. Also, the players hate it and it’s screwing with pitch data. “If you look at the numbers and pitch shapes, they’re out of sight. Spin rates and vertical and horizontal numbers, they’re out of sight,” Angels manager Phil Nevin told Sam Blum (subs. req’d) (Anaheim’s Double-A affiliate is in the Southern League). I know teams are having trouble evaluating Southern League pitchers. What’s a genuine change in skill and what’s sticky ball noise? Who’s really ready for that promotion and who’s having a down year specifically because of the ball? This is why MLB tests these things in the minors. So far, it seems no one likes the current sticky ball prototype.

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