The Yankees rolled into the All Star break 3.5 games up on Tampa for first place in the division. They are 8 games over .500 and have the 4th best record in the AL. After a strong series vs Oakland they took 2 of 3 from the Red Sox, just when Boston fans thought they might have a chance this season. Rob Refsnyder made his debut and all things are good in Yankees land. This week is the Home Run Derby and All Star Game, so we won’t have any new Yankees baseball until next weekend. Later this week we are planning to have a Scranton beat-writer on, Donnie Collins, to discuss some of the prospects in the system including Aaron Judge, Luis Severino, and Gary Sanchez.
The Yankees took 2 of 3 from Oakland last week. They dropped the first game of the series in extras. We noticed an odd stat; the Yankees are 2-5 in extra-inning games and 12-12 in 1 run games this season. It’s kind of weird because their pen has been so great, but for whatever reason they are not that good in close games. Hopefully that can improve in the second half.
CC Sabathia pitched in game 2 of the Oakland series after being pushed back 3 days. It was a typical start from CC this season. He kept them in the game but only went 5.1 innings, putting a lot of pressure on the bullpen. Luckily Teixeira went beast mode and hit 2 HRs and made 2 defensive gems. The next day Tanaka dominated the A’s and it was announced Brett Gardner would replace Alex Gordon on the All Star team.
It was a big weekend at Fenway. The Yanks went into the series with some momentum, but the Red Sox were hot as well. This was the biggest series between these two teams in a few years, and the Yankees did not disappoint. ARod set the tone early in this series with a big HR off Clay Buchholz on Friday. Buchholz also left the game with an injury and the Yankees took advantage of shaky defense by the Red Sox lone All Star, Brock Holt, to win on Friday night.
Before the game on Saturday, Scott’s bae, Rob Refsnyder, was called up. The Sox took Saturday’s game thanks to a misplayed ball in RF by Chris Young. On Sunday Refsnyder and the Yankees bats led the way, and Eovaldi earned his 9th win.
We finished the episode by taking some questions from Instagram.
Joey.kagan: How do you think the Yankees can improve in the 2nd half of the season in their push for the playoffs? Also do you think Abomb can keep up his production, as well as Tex?
We focused on the players currently on the roster and in the system for this first question. The team does not have a glaring weakness, which is pretty surprising when you think about it. Scott would like to see Refsnyder for the rest of the season (obviously), and I would like to see either CC or Eovaldi start going more than 5 innings so the bullpen does not collapse down the stretch.
andrewelabiary: Do you guys feel the Yankees should make a trade for a top player like Queto or Hamels, or keep their top prospects and maybe pull off a trade for a middle of the pack bat?
This question came at a good time because Scott and I decided to do a trade proposals section on the podcast anyways. Scott would like to see the Yankees bolster the rotation; he wants to trade for Scott Kazmir and Mat Latos. Both the A’s and Reds are going to be sellers at the deadline, and both guys should not cost too much – probably a mid-level prospect or two. I would also like to see an upgrade to the rotation, but since Scott took Kazmir off the board I decided to go big. If the Yanks make a play for a top arm on the market, I’d like to see Hamels because he is signed through 2018. If they trade a top prospect then I would like the return player to be in pinstripes for a few years. I can also see the team trading for a guy like Tyler Clippard. Again, the A’s will be sellers and another righty in the pen would be huge.
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