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. Weeken...
2024-04-29 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Cool thing alert: The Yankees now play John Sterling’s “Thuuuuu Yankees win!” call before “New York, New York” after the final out. You can hear it in the background here. Nice touch. They gotta break out the full “Ballgame over! World Series over! Yankees win! Thuuuuu Yankees win!” call when the Yankees win No. 28 this November. Let’s now get to today’s post.
1. W...
2024-04-26 10:00:11 +0000 UTC
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I had a busy weekend and didn’t have too much time to write, and it’s probably for the best. The Yankees, they stink right now. The offense does at least. Juan Soto rules, otherwise this is the 2023 offense with a fresh coat of paint. Guys need to start hitting, and if they don’t, the Yankees aren’t going to win enough games to get to the postseason. It’s as simple as that. Fortunately the Yankees still have 139 games to figure it out. Let’s get to today’s post.
1....
2024-04-23 10:00:09 +0000 UTC
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After many failed attempts earlier in life, I finally got into the NBA a few years ago (Josh Hart forever), and watching the Play-In Tournament earlier this week made me miss the Wild Card Game. It was hell whenever the Yankees played in it – so stressful! – but the Wild Card Game ruled. It was much more fun than the best-of-three Wild Card Series, fairness be damned. There’s no going back though. The postseason only gets bigger, never smaller. But the Wild Card Game was a good time. Gr...
2024-04-19 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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The radio voice of the Yankees has called it a career. John Sterling announced his retirement Monday afternoon, effective immediately. The Yankees will honor him with a pregame ceremony this Saturday. He’ll make an appearance in the WFAN booth during the game as well.
“I am a very blessed human being,” 2024-04-15 21:22:37 +0000 UTC
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Would you believe Saturday was the Yankees’ first April doubleheader since 2014? They’ve had plenty of April postponements since then, but those games were all made up on off-days, or as part of doubleheaders later in the season. Saturday was their first April doubleheader since they shut out Anthony Rizzo's Cubs in both games on April 16th, 2014. The starting pitchers that day: Masahiro Ta...
2024-04-15 16:42:28 +0000 UTC
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We’re only two weeks into the season and I’ve already run out of intro material. The dog days of summer arrive a little earlier with each passing year. Let’s get right to today’s post.
1. Weekday thoughts. It would have been nice to finish the sweep Wednesday, especially against a bad team like the Marlins, but did you know this is only the sixth time in franchise history the Yankees have won their first four series of the season? 2024-04-12 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Juan Soto’s first home game as a Yankee sent literal shockwaves through the Bronx. I was sitting in the press box when Friday’s earthquake hit and yeah, it was noticeable. It felt like when the old Yankee Stadium would shake during big moments, only the ballpark was empty. Gleyber Torres was in the middle of batting practice and kept hitting like nothing happened (video). The Mets finally won...
2024-04-09 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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Good thing the Yankees opened the season on the road, huh? The Mets have been rained out three times already and the Yankees would have been too had they started the season with a seven-game homestand instead of a seven-game road trip. Also, just to circle back to something I said Monday, I have to admit I’m enjoying the new "Name that Yankee" game more since they’ve upped the difficulty. The fi...
2024-04-05 10:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Did the new “Name that Yankee” feature replace YES trivia? I hope not. I’m all for new games, this is the entertainment business after all, but trivia is more up my alley. Give me both, YES! Name that Yankee and trivia. Anyway, here is Tuesday morning’s post Monday morning. I’m running this a day early because the very fun Astros series is over, and I can’t say I feel like staying up ...
2024-04-01 10:00:10 +0000 UTC
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The Pittsburgh to New York pitching pipeline is still up and running. On Friday, the Yankees acquired righty JT Brubaker and $500,000 in international bonus pool money from the Pirates for a player to be named later. Brubaker had Tommy John surgery last April and is expected back around the All-Star break. He’s on the 60-day injured list, so no 40-man roster move was necessary.
“I know he d...
2024-03-30 18:05:41 +0000 UTC
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The new road jerseys look sharp, no? I might be in the minority, but I like the blue lettering with no white outline. Anyway, best win of the season! Nothing else is even close! I mean, there’s a non-zero chance that winds up actually being the best win of the season, right? Anyway, what a great Opening Day. Tough first inning, but almost everything after that was cool. The four-run comeback is the second largest Opening Day comeback in franchise history. The Yankees had a nine-run comeback...
2024-03-29 01:38:19 +0000 UTC
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The 2024 regular season begins this afternoon, 182 days since the Yankees last played a game that had stakes for either team. They’re in Houston to take on the Astros. Juan Soto is a Yankee. So too are Marcus Stroman and Alex Verdugo. Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, and Anthony Volpe are still around, though Gerrit Cole will miss the first few months of the season.
“Across the board our guys came in ready to go when Spring Training started,” Aaron Bo...
2024-03-28 15:56:02 +0000 UTC
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Nick Burdi, meet Jon Berti. Jon Berti, Nick Burdi. Berti and Burdi. Burdi and Berti. As expected, the Yankees brought in a new position player before Opening Day. They get Berti, who for some reason I thought is a native New Yorker but is not (he’s from Michigan), in a three-team trade with the Marlins and Rays. Here is the full trade, which has not yet been officially announced, though all the tru...
2024-03-27 18:50:50 +0000 UTC
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Spring Training is over and the regular season is a few days away. I’ll miss the chill afternoon games, but I’m ready for baseball that counts. The Yankees are off Tuesday and Wednesday, then they’ll begin the regular season Thursday afternoon in Houston. Here are the pitching matchups for the season-opening four-game series at Minute Maid Park:
Opening Day is fast approaching and that means it is time, once again, for RAB’s sure-to-be-wrong bold predictions for the upcoming season. I didn’t always make 10 bold predictions. I made five predictions a year from 2018-21, then I went back to 10 two years ago, and that’s just a better number. Five doesn’t feel like enough. Here’s how I’ve fared over the years:
20...
2024-03-25 10:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Juan Soto is no longer the biggest addition the Yankees made this offseason. Earlier this week the Yankees announced all the new vendors and concession items coming to Yankee Stadium, and there will be a Mr. Softee stand(s) in the Bronx this year. They have to play the jingle, right? Have to. I have no idea where the stand(s) will be, but I’ll track it down. Good addition, Yankees. ...
2024-03-22 10:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Opening Day is next Thursday and I will once again have 10 bold predictions for the upcoming season. I’m going to break those out into a separate post this year, so look for those Monday. I went 2-for-10 last year, and a .200 average makes me a true 2023 Yankee. I’ll never repeat my 2024-03-19 10:00:07 +0000 UTC
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UPDATE: We have a diagnosis and a treatment plan: Cole has nerve inflammation and edema (swelling, basically) and will be shut down 3-4 weeks, he said Saturday. “Three to four weeks no throw, and we’ll go from there. I think we determined that we just got a little too hot a little too quick this spring," Cole told
2024-03-15 20:41:27 +0000 UTC
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Opening Day is two weeks away and the Yankees still have so much roster uncertainty. Some of it is unexpected (who replaces Gerrit Cole?), some if it is not (who’s on the bench?). In two weeks the Yankees will be in Houston and we’ll have answers to all those questions. Here now is Friday morning’s post Thursday evening. We’re still waiting on a Cole update, so I figured I’d get this post out now before anything happens and I have to start writing again.
1. Cease trade...
2024-03-14 21:32:43 +0000 UTC
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Details about Gerrit Cole’s elbow are beginning to trickle in. Aaron Boone confirmed Wednesday that Cole is heading to Los Angeles to consult with Dr. Neal ElAttrache, and multiple reports used similar language – “no tear has been detected” – to describe his UCL. That is not the same thing as “there is no tear,” unfortunately, and there’s a reason Cole’s seeing Dr. ElAttrache. They...
2024-03-13 20:24:37 +0000 UTC
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In unsurprising news, Aaron Judge is hurt more than the Yankees let on. This is just the way it is now. We have to assume every injury is worse than the Yankees say. Judge is dealing with an abdominal issue and it’s bad enough that he went for an MRI on Monday. It came back clean (so the Yankees say), th...
2024-03-12 19:17:41 +0000 UTC
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This Juan Soto guy, he’s good at baseball. The regular season needs to start already. I don’t want him wasting any more of these 447-foot home runs (video) in games that don’t count. Where do you think the Yankees will trade him at the deadline? Mariners maybe? Blue Jays? (I kid, I kid.) Let’s get today’s post as 2024-03-12 10:00:08 +0000 UTC
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This spring went from very fun and exciting to potentially terrible in a heartbeat. On Monday, Aaron Boone announced Gerrit Cole is going for an MRI on his pitching elbow because he’s had trouble bouncing back between starts. Boone said Cole likened the soreness to how he feels after a 100-pitch regular season start, not a Spring Training start. Of course, the Yankees downplay every injury, so it's...
2024-03-11 16:09:40 +0000 UTC
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The Yankees will not see Justin Verlander when they begin the regular season in Houston. He’s working his way back from an offseason shoulder issue and will start the season on the injured list. Nothing’s official yet, but I reckon the pitching matchups for that four-game series will look like this:
We began our season preview series at CBS on Monday and I wrote our Yankees preview. I’m writing for a different audience there, so it’s not particularly in-depth, but that’s there if you’re interested. We are three weeks and two days away from Opening Day. Slowly but surely, we’re getting there. Here now i...
2024-03-05 11:00:07 +0000 UTC
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UPDATE: I goofed on my search for the .250/.350/.450 hitters mailbag question. My mistake. It has been corrected below.
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ORIGINAL POST: They snuck an extra day into February this year, but it’s now March, and the Yankees will play meaningful regular season baseball later this month. Opening Day is three weeks and six days away. Until then, we have Spring Training baseball to enjoy, which is fun in its own way. Let’s get to today’s...
2024-03-01 11:00:13 +0000 UTC
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Putting a bow on the leadoff hitter poll: 37% of RAB readers want the Yankees to employ a platoon atop the lineup to begin the regular season. That narrowly edged out DJ LeMahieu (33%). Gleyber Torres was third (27%), with Anthony Rizzo and Alex Verdugo far behind him (4% combined). I voted Gleyber. Put your three best hitters in the 1-2-3 spots and get them all to the plate in the first inning. Le...
2024-02-27 11:00:06 +0000 UTC
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Self-promotion: I wrote a thing at CBS looking at Gerrit Cole’s contract and his upcoming opt out. I think the most likely outcome is Cole uses his opt out and the Yankees pick up their club option to void it, but it’s not the only possible outcome. I ran through a few other scenarios. Check that out if you want, ...
2024-02-23 11:00:08 +0000 UTC
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For the first time in a while, the Yankees specifically targeted their offensive weaknesses this offseason. The last few years it felt like they were simply assembling players, which led to too many righties and too much swing-and-miss. This offseason there was a concerted effort to bring in lefties who make contact (Trent Grisham, Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, Jorbit Vivas), and they were badly needed to...
2024-02-21 11:00:07 +0000 UTC
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