Yankees ace James Paxton exited his final start of the season on Friday after just one inning because of left glute tightness, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. Paxton’s removal was a precautionary measure, and were it not for the looming postseason matchup with the Twins, Paxton likely could have pitched through what he described as “dull soreness.” The rotation is New York’s biggest question mark going into the playoffs, and Paxton is clearly a key piece. He’s 15-6 with a 3.82 ERA/3.87 FIP across 150 2/3 innings for the season, landing fairly close to career marks both in terms of efficiency and durability. Paxton’s status as the likely ALDS game one starter is not at present affected by his early departure on Friday, though he will certainly be monitored closely, and one would think it might affect the amount of leash given him in the ALDS opener. In other injury news heading into Saturday’s action…
- The Yankees PR department announced David Hale’s reinstatement from the 60-day injured list. Hale, 32, had a strong start to the season going 3-0 with a 2.89 ERA/3.30 FIP across 19 innings. He last pitched on July 26 against the Red Sox, finishing a strong month of July when he posted a 2.63 ERA. Hale has a part in two major storylines of the Yankees season, both as a resident of the overfull trainer’s room, and as one of the many unsung contributors to their 2019 success. Aaron Hicks, meanwhile, was moved to the 60-day injured list. It’s been mostly a lost season for Hicks, who nonetheless contributed 1.2 bWAR in 59 games when healthy via a .235/.325/.443 line with 12 home runs.
- Rookie fan favorite Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was scratched from today’s lineup with right knee soreness, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of sportsnet.ca. If Vlad Jr. misses both of the Blue Jays final games, he’ll finish his rookie season with a .272/.339/.433 line across 123 games while notching 15 home runs and 69 RBIs. His 105 wRC+ is not perhaps the world-breaking debut that many expected, but in effort and showmanship, Vlad Jr. more than held his own. His performance at the home run derby will go down as the defining moment of his rookie season, where he showed the national audience more than enough to justify the hype of the past few seasons.
“Hale has a part in two major storylines of the Yankees season, both as a resident of the overfull trainer’s room, and as one of the many unsung contributors to their 2019 success.”
So the 415,811 times that articles on this site have glowed poetically about the yankees success is what constitutes as “unsung”. OMG, I hope the fat lady is warming up in their clubhouse for them to start playing golf ASAP. Enough about the yankees. SUSPICIOUS!!!
Lol what is suspicious?
Nothing is suspicious. Anytime an article is posted, talking about anything positive about the Yankees, hayzee always thinks there’s something going on behind the curtains we don’t know about. Even if it’s the most outlandish claim.
He’s just a whack job conspiracy theory guy who posts the same old tired song on any yankee article
Sounds like a Red Sux fan…
Dude – kick rocks
The Evil Empire is never going away. Make peace with it.
lol this dude has posted the word “suspicious” on every Yankees article for months. He’s a special one.
Kinda reminds me of Rocket from the movie…Stuck on You
Do everyone a favor and stop going to the website then.
In 6 months we will find out who the real Vlad Guerrero Jr is. Put in work Vladdy. You could be one of the greats.
It seems as though facing MLB pitching has been the ultimate eye test for Vladdy. If you put him back in the minors, he’d break every offensive record there is (short of stolen bases).
The fact remains, he’s doing what’s expected, he’s been a decent defender at 3rd (above avg where many expected him to be) and he’s produced well above the league avg offensively. If he’s to do what he did last year and in the derby, he’ll need to work very hard offseason to up his game.
Time will tell, but I’m still a big VG Jr homer! I’m loving the future of Jays baseball! Now if only we could get some quality pitching, it could be a long run in the GWN!
I don’t think you’re watching the same guy we are. Vlad is above average offensively but terrible on the bases and way below average at 3rd. He’s a defensive liability right now while using his bat to counter his poor play.
I hope his defense improves to at least average because he could become one of the greats.
Slimming down might help his defense, or it might not. His poor baserunning decisions are a by-product of his youth. More important, he’s only 20. The expectation is he gets into great shape and explodes next year offensively with improved defense.
Wow… a Ben Nicholson-Smith sighting! Tim, what’s the latest on getting Ben back to MLBTR? Why I don’t fully support men with hyphenated names, Ben was the best writer this site has ever had.
Other than Tim himself of course Wilford and yes.. I’d like to also see more articles from some of the writers who “graduated” from MLBTR’s old days linked here.
No ifs, ands or butts, Paxton will quickly put this injury behind him
Bottom line, he’ll be ready to take on the Twins and put them in arrears the ALCS.
And that’s the bottom line.
I honestly can’t see how they shutdown that offense, especially if Paxton isn’t at 100%
Twins staff is not going to have a pleasant time pitching to the Yanks lineup. Overall, I think Yanks have more horses than the Twins. Should be an exciting series.
Yep. I feel sorry for both pitching staffs
Yeah, now watch both teams score a total of 7 runs in the entire series…
My guess is Yanks pen, and Boone’s use of it, decides who goes to the ALCS.
Im actually flabbergasted as to why the Yankees havent gotten new trainers
I bet we see a bunch of changes in the offseason.
Yanks are not reactionary, especially under Hal. They gather a bunch of info, create a plan, then execute.
I think it would have been hard to change mid season, could have made things even worse.
I think im going to have to agree with you about it being hard to change trainers mid season. Still, im not sure it really couldve been any worse
Basically the same stat line as Griffey Jr. when he was a kid. We all know the rest of that story.
People, chill the f out. He plays at the highest level at 20 yrs old. It’s truly remarkable.
What were any of you doing at 20?