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As good as he’s been, Tyler Austin should be the odd man out when Greg Bird returns

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(Ed Zurga/Getty)

At some point soon, likely within the next week, Greg Bird will return from his ankle surgery and join the Yankees. The Yankees love love love Bird and he is expected to step right in as the everyday first baseman. It would not surprise me at all to see him hitting third or fourth in his first game back.

The first base position has not been a total disaster during Bird’s absence. Neil Walker has been really good this month while Tyler Austin has crushed lefties all season. Even after going 0-for-Hamels last night, Austin is hitting .293/.362/.634 (163 wRC+) against southpaws this year. He has been an objectively great platoon bat.

“Tyler’s put himself in a very good position,” said Aaron Boone to Erik Boland yesterday when asked whether there is room for both Austin and Bird on the roster. “He’s having a lot of success, having a big hand in us winning games. I definitely see a role, potentially, for both of them.”

Moving forward with a Bird/Austin platoon at first base sounds simple enough, though roster spots are a finite resource, and the Yankees may not be able to carry two first base only guys. And, as good as he’s been, sending Austin to Triple-A when Bird returns is the most logical move, for three reasons.

1. The Yankees aren’t scheduled to face many lefties. Pitching plans can always change, but right now, the Yankees are scheduled to face two lefties over their next 15 games. They’ll see Andrew Heaney this weekend and Dallas Keuchel next week, and then it’s a long run of right-handed pitchers. Again, pitching plans are tentative, but that’s how things are set up at the moment.

As good as Austin has been overall this season, he should not be in the lineup against right-handed pitchers. And especially not over Bird. Austin’s platoon splits are ridiculous:

  • vs. RHP: .200/.250/.467 (89 wRC+) with 4.7 BB% and 43.8 K%
  • vs. LHP: .293/.362/.634 (163 wRC+) with 8.5 BB% and 27.7 K%

Austin shouldn’t be in the lineup against righties. Not over Bird. And, with so many right-handed pitchers coming up, Austin is going to be glued to the bench. Yeah, I suppose he could be a pinch-hitter option against a lefty reliever, though those opportunities may be few and far between. Simply put, it doesn’t appear there will be many at-bats for Austin in the near future.

2. The Yankees are going to carry an eighth reliever. Like it or not. I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do about it. The Yankees will start a 14 games in 13 days stretch Friday — hey have the makeup doubleheader in Detroit coming up — and I would bet heavily on the Yankees carrying an eighth reliever during that stretch. They like having the eighth reliever. It’s been made clear.

Who will that eighth reliever be? It might be Jonathan Holder once Tommy Kahnle and Adam Warren return. The identity of the eighth reliever is irrelevant. As long as the eighth reliever is on the roster, there are only three players on the bench. Austin Romine and Ronald Torreyes will be two of them. The more versatile Neil Walker makes more sense for the final bench spot than another first baseman. Walker in MLB and Austin in Triple-A is better than Austin in MLB and Walker out of the organization.

3. The sooner he goes down, the sooner he can come back. By rule, players sent to the minors have to stay there at least ten days before being called back up, unless they’re replacing a player placed on the disabled list. So, the sooner the Yankees send Austin down, the sooner the clock starts and the sooner they’ll be able to bring him back as a platoon option should they run into a bunch of left-handers or something like that. Odds are Austin’s assignment to Triple-A would only be temporary.

* * *

It boils down to this: The Yankees have too many good players. It sounds silly and it is, but it’s absoluty true. Clint Frazier and Brandon Drury should be in the big leagues. So should Adam Lind. Holder has looked pretty good lately and deserves to stay in the big leagues, but might get pushed down when Kahnle and Warren return. The Yankees have an incredible amount of depth right now.

Austin doesn’t deserve to be demoted. He’s performed about as well as anyone could’ve possibly hoped so far this season. Given the roster though, carrying another full-time first baseman doesn’t make sense once Bird returns. The Yankees are going to carry an eighth reliever, which leaves them sort a bench player, and there aren’t many left-handed pitchers on the upcoming schedule. A righty platoon first baseman isn’t the best use of a roster spot.

These roster logjams always have a way of working themselves out. Bird has had plenty of trouble staying on the field lately — Austin himself as an injury history too — and it is entirely possible an injury elsewhere on the roster will create an opening. Given the current roster, it’s hard to see how both Bird and Austin fit, even with Boone saying there is potentially a role for both of them.

Yankeemetrics: The Royal Dinger Party in KC (May 18-20)

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(AP)

Road less traveled
The Yankees arrived in Kansas City a travel-weary and rusty team, having endured a nightmarish trip out of D.C. and a stretch of four straight days without completing a game. And, well, the Yankees predictably played like a travel-weary and rusty team on Friday night in their 5-2 loss to a Royals team that entered the series with the second-worst record in baseball.

It’s actually pretty rare that the Yankees would lose to a team as bad as the Royals — who were 13-30 (.302) before Friday — this late into the season. It was only the second time in the last eight years (since 2011) that the Yankees were beaten by a team with a win percentage of .302 or worse at least 40 games into the schedule. The other instance was a 7-4 loss to a 20-48 Twins team on June 19, 2016.

While there were multiple cold bats in the lineup on Friday, none have been as deep in the freezer as Didi Gregorius. After going 0-for-4, this became officially the worst 10-game slump of his career, no matter what offensive metric you use. In the 10 games from May 4-May 18, he had a .024/.089/.024 slashline, .113 OPS, .051 wOBA and -83 wRC+. All of those stats are the worst he’s ever had in any 10-game stretch in his career. Yikes!

Prior to Friday, CC Sabathia had been so dominant at Kauffman Stadium in his Yankee career, going 5-0 with a 1.42 ERA in five starts. That was the lowest ERA by any Yankee pitcher who had made at least two starts at the ballpark. But he was in trouble from the start, and while he was certainly hurt by a couple misplays in the field, he still had a subpar night with four runs and eight baserunners allowed in five innings. This was his second straight poor outing in a row, after he’d put together one of the best four-start stretches of his career from April 19-May 4:

CC Sabathia Since April 19
ERA IP R ER H BB
Last 2 Starts 6.00 9 8 6 13 4
Previous 4 Starts 0.39 23.1 4 1 14 3
(USA Today)

Bronx Bombers are back
The Yankees rebounded from one of their most sluggish efforts of the season with a typical Bronx Bomber-style offensive explosion, belting five homers en route to an 8-3 win. Even before they took the field, the Yankees made history. All nine guys in the starting lineup were 28 years old or younger, the first time the Yankees have done that since Sept. 26, 1970, and the first time ever this early into the season (43rd game) they’ve had a starting nine with every guy under age 29.

Luis Severino battled through six innings without his best stuff, allowing 10 baserunners and three runs while striking out six. It’s that last number that’s important for Yankeemetrics, because it meant that he joined an exclusive — though sorta arbitrary — club of decent pitchers:

Most Consecutive Road Starts with at least 6 K
Starts Years
Randy Johnson 33 1998-00
Pedro Martinez 28 1999-01
Randy Johnson 25 2000-02
Luis Severino 20 2017-18

Aaron Hicks kicked off the dinger party with an inside-the-parker to the corner in deep right field, his second home run of the season that didn’t go over the fences. Here they are, side-by-side, one as righty and one as a lefty:

(mlb.com)

An amazing statistical feat like this gets our finest bullet-point treatment:

Gleyber Torres was the next Bronx Bomber to go deep, breaking a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning with a monster three-run shot to left field, his first career homer on the road. That gave him 15 career RBI, making him the youngest Yankee (21 years, 157 days old) to that milestone that since a 19-year-old rookie named Mickey Mantle in 1951.

Although this was just his fourth homer as big leaguer, he definitely hasn’t produced any cheapies or boring blasts so far. All four have gone at least 407 feet, and three of the four have been tie-breaking shots in games the Yankees eventually won.

Gary Sanchez extended the lead with a homer in the seventh and another in the ninth. He now has 10 career multi-homer games, just the fourth Yankee to have double-digit multi-homer games before age 26. The guys he’s chasing? Joe DiMaggio (17), Mickey Mantle (14) and Lou Gehrig (13).

(Getty)

Finally, a Sonny Sunday
The Yankees won their eighth straight series thanks to a 10-1 rout on Sunday, as Sonny Gray delivered an absolute gem and the Yankee bats produced another explosive power-hitting show in Kansas City. It’s the first time they’ve won eight series in a row since a nine-series streak in July/August 1998.

For the second straight day the Yankees were spraying balls deep into the outfield gaps and over the fences, crushing four homers, two doubles and two triples among their 14 hits. And with that combo, the entire team earns our Obscure Yankeemetric of the Series: This is just the second time in the last 50 seasons that they’ve piled up at least four homers, multiple doubles and multiple triples in a game. The other was a wild 15-13 win over the Rangers in Texas on May 6, 1998.

Probably more impressive — given historically how tough it is to go deep at the K — is this note: the Yankees are just the second visiting team in the history of Kauffman Stadium (built in 1973) to hit at least four home runs in back-to-back games within a series at the ballpark (2003 White Sox are the other). Or maybe you prefer this comparison:

The big bopper on Sunday was Tyler Austin, who belted two homers for his second career multi-homer game (both this season), including a mammoth 440-foot blast in the fourth inning that is the longest of his career. Combined with his 405-foot shot in the ninth, he now has six 400-plus-foot homers this season, tying Gary Sanchez and Giancarlo Stanton for the team lead.

Miguel Andujar had a day at the plate, too, falling a double short of the cycle. The only other Yankee third baseman since 2000 with a home run and a triple in the same game was Alex Rodriguez on September 15, 2005 at Tampa Bay.

The best highlight of the game, however, was the brilliant outing by Gray. He retired the first 14 Kansas City batters and tossed eight sparkling innings, allowing just one run on four hits. He was sharp, efficient and in total control nearly the entire afternoon, and most importantly, pitched aggressively early in the count. He threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of 29 batters (75.9%), his best rate in any game as a Yankee. Gray entered Friday with a career-low 53.2 percent first-pitch strike rate, 10th-worst in MLB. How important is strike one for Gray?

OPS Allowed (before Sunday)
Gray MLB Avg
After 0-1 .626 .609
After 1-0 1.045 .828

Game 31: Win The Game, Win The Series

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*squee* (Presswire)

Even with Monday’s loss, the first six games of this seven-game road trip have gone pretty darn well for the Yankees. They’ve won five of the six games so far, including the last two by shutting out the Astros in Houston. They’ve allowed seven runs total in the six games. Also, the Yankees have not allowed a home run in their last four games, their longest such streak since August 2016.

This afternoon’s pitching matchup is a good one: Masahiro Tanaka vs. Lance McCullers Jr. They are the poster children for this new anti-fastball movement that is slowly taking over baseball. Here are the bottom three pitchers in fastball usage since the start of last season:

  1. R.A. Dickey: 16.6% (knuckleballer)
  2. Masahiro Tanaka: 36.0%
  3. Lance McCullers Jr.: 40.5%

Yeah. We might be in for 70% non-fastballs this afternoon, which is fun in its own way. Win the game, win the series. Here are the starting lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. SS Didi Gregorius
4. LF Giancarlo Stanton
5. C Gary Sanchez
6. 1B Neil Walker
7. DH Miguel Andujar
8. 3B Ronald Torreyes
9. 2B Gleyber Torres

RHP Masahiro Tanaka

Houston Astros
1. RF George Springer
2. 2B Jose Altuve
3. SS Carlos Correa
4. DH Yuli Gurriel
5. LF Josh Reddick
6. 3B Alex Bregman
7. 1B Marwin Gonzalez
8. C Brian McCann
9. CF Jake Marisnick

RHP Lance McCullers Jr.

It is hot in Houston this afternoon, also cloudy and windy, so the Minute Maid Park roof will be closed. This afternoon’s series finale will begin at 2:10pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and MLB Network out of market. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: Greg Bird (ankle) will begin playing in Extended Spring Training games Monday. I imagine he’ll do that a bunch of times before joining one of the minor league affiliates for an official rehab stint. Bird’s timetable is unchanged. He’s still looking at a mid-to-late May return … Tommy Kahnle (shoulder, biceps) has started throwing and everything is going well. Adam Warren (lat) is inching closer to playing catch … Tyler Austin is okay after jamming his hip making a diving play last night. He’s available today. Aaron Boone said Austin was scheduled to sit against McCullers anyway.

Yankeemetrics: Bombers streaking, sweep Twins (April 23-26)

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(AP)

Lucky 14
The Yankees welcomed their longtime punching bag –- the Twins –- to the Bronx for a four-game set starting Monday, and predictably whipped them, 14-1, in the opener.

Entering this year the Yankees owned a 78-31 (.716) regular-season record against the Twins since 2002 (the last time they lost a season series to the Twins was 2001!). That’s the highest win percentage by any team in a head-to-head non-Interleague matchup over the last 16 seasons. Including the postseason, that record improves to a whopping 91-33 since 2002, or the equivalent of 118 wins over a 162-game schedule.

Miguel Andujar continued to swing a scorching-hot bat, homering in the second inning and doubling in the sixth to extend his streak of games with an extra-base hit to seven games. That tied Joe DiMaggio (1937) and Mickey Mantle (1955) for the longest such streak in franchise history by a player age 23-or-younger. Andujar also joined A-Rod (twice in 2007) as the only Yankee third baseman with an extra-base hit in seven (or more) games over the last 75 seasons.

Giancarlo Stanton broke out of his early-season Bronx slump with a 4-for-4, 2-RBI night. The four hits on Monday were one fewer than he had in his first 12 games combined at Yankee Stadium this season.

Didi Gregorius put an exclamation point on the rout with his second career grand slam in the eighth inning, boosting the lead to 12-1. The only other shortstops since 1925 to hit multiple grand slams in their Yankee careers were Frankie Crosetti (3), Phil Rizzuto (2) and Fred Stanley (2).

Gleyber Torres singled in the eighth, getting not only his first career major-league hit but also earning our #FunFact of the game: He became the youngest Yankee infielder with a hit in a game since a rookie named Derek Jeter in 1995.

(AP)

Rinse, repeat, another rout
The Yankees lived up to their Bronx Bombers nickname for a second straight night, belting four home runs en route to an easy 8-3 win on Tuesday.

The fireworks were supplied by the usual suspects — Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Didi “I’m Not a Home Run Hitter” Gregorius — who went a combined 8-for-13 with four dingers while driving in seven of the team’s eight runs (alas, the rest of the lineup was 2-for-22).

Sanchez delivered two blasts for his ninth career multi-homer game. He’s the only player in major-league history to tally nine multi-homer games within his first 200 career games.

Judge smashed an opposite field shot in the seventh, showing off his ridiculous power to right field. Since the start of last season he is slugging 1.075 and has an isolated power of .626 on balls hit to the opposite field. Not only are those two marks the best in MLB, but he’s lapping the field by a wide margin. No other qualified hitter even has an oppo-field slugging percentage of .900 or an oppo-field isolated power of .500.

Didi contributed an RBI single in the third inning and then hit a booming two-run homer in the fifth, increasing his team-leading totals to 27 RBI and eight homers. He is the first shortstop in baseball history to reach each of those marks this early into the season. Among Yankees, only A-Rod during his 2007 MVP campaign and Babe Ruth in 1921 have matched or bettered Didi’s totals in the team’s first 22 games.

CC Sabathia was in late-career vintage form, generating tons of weakly-hit balls with his crafty mix of sliders, cutters and sinkers. Per Fangraphs, 50 percent of the 16 balls in play were categorized as “soft contact”, tied for the second-best rate in any game of his career.

Statcast measured his average exit velocity at 76.4 mph and all 16 batted balls against him were clocked below 90 mph. Since Statcast tracking began in 2015, he’s the only pitcher in the majors to allow at least 15 balls in play in a game, with none them coming off the bat at 90 mph or faster.

(Newsday)

Didi and Tyler’s World
Not even another ugly start from Sonny Gray could keep this pinstriped train from chugging to another win over the Twins. Thanks to their relentless offense, another power barrage and a lockdown performance from the bullpen, the Yankees won their fifth game in a row, 7-4, on Wednesday night.

Another game, another dinger for the ridiculously hot Didi Gregorius. His game-tying solo shot in third inning –- his ninth of the season -– etched his name in the record books. He is the:

  • only shortstop in franchise history to go deep in four straight games
  • only Yankee shortstop with at least nine homers and 25 RBI in any calendar month
  • only shortstop in major-league history with at least nine homers and 25 RBI in April

For more context on Didi’s nine homers in 20 April games, consider this stat: In his first season as a Yankee in 2015 he hit nine homers in 155 games!

Tyler Austin delivered the game-changing hit, crushing a tie-breaking three-run homer in the third to give the Yankees a 5-2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. It was his 12th career homer, and 10 of the 12 have either tied the game or given the Yankees the lead. He is slugging .914 with a 1.299 OPS in 35 career high-leverage at-bats. Since his rookie season in 2016, that’s easily the highest slugging percentage and OPS in high-leverage situations by any MLB player (min. 25 at-bats).

Gleyber Torres showed off his his lightning-quick bat speed with another two-hit performance, including his first career extra-base hit (a double in the fourth). He became the youngest Yankee with back-to-back multi-hit games since a 20-year-old Mickey Mantle pulled off the feat in 1952.

Kraken FTW
The Yankees capped off their sweep of the Twins in stunning fashion, with a dramatic walk-off win on a sunny Thursday afternoon in the Bronx. Gary Sanchez wore the hero’s cape as he crushed a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to turn a potential 3-1 loss into a thrilling 4-3 win.

Here’s a few #FunFacts to celebrate Gary’s first career walk-off hit. He is the …

  • First Yankee with a come-from-behind, walk-off blast against the Twins since Jason Giambi’s memorable game-ending grand slam on May 17, 2002.
  • Youngest Yankee since Don Mattingly on May 13, 1985 to hit a walk-off home run when trailing by multiple runs. Oh, and the losing team in that game? The Twins, of course.
  • Only Yankee catcher (since at least 1925) to hit a game-ending shot with his team facing a deficit of two runs or more.

There was little to celebrate about this game before El Gary snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the bottom of the ninth. Twins starter Kyle Gibson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Brett Gardner’s two-out single broke up the no-no. That was the only hit Gibson allowed in the game, and combined with his career-best 10 strikeouts, he joined an exclusive list of pitchers to allow one or fewer hits and strike out at least 10 Yankees in the Divisional Era (since 1969):

Date
Kyle Gibson April 26, 2018
Chris Sale May 22, 2014
Bartolo Colon Sept. 18, 2000
Pedro Martinez Sept. 10, 1999
Nolan Ryan Aug. 29, 1973

Tyler Austin’s suspension reduced to four games

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(Maddie Meyer/Getty)

MLB has finally ruled on Tyler Austin’s suspension. This afternoon the Yankees announced Austin’s five-game suspension has been reduced to four games. He will begin serving it tomorrow. Joe Kelly’s six-game ban was not reduced.

The Yankees must play a man short while Austin is suspended, and since they’re carrying eight relievers, either a roster move is coming or the Yankees will play the next four games with a two-man bench. Not ideal. Neil Walker will presumably step in at first base.

If the Yankees do make a move, they won’t be able to call up Tyler Wade because of the ten-day rule. The only other healthy 40-man roster position player in the minors is Kyle Higashioka. I’m guessing the Yankees will ride it out with a two-man bench this weekend. We’ll see.

Update: I just remembered Brandon Drury is on the way back. He could be activated off the disabled list with a reliever going down at some point this weekend.

It’s too early to worry about how the Yankees will handle their looming infield logjam

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Andujar. (Jim McIsaac/Getty)

The Yankees made it clear during Spring Training they were not comfortable going into the 2018 season with rookies at second and third bases. They traded for Brandon Drury and signed Neil Walker, pushing Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres to Triple-A. And now, less than four weeks into the regular season, Andujar is the starting third baseman and Torres is the starting second baseman. Go figure.

Injuries and poor performance have pushed Andujar and Torres into starting duty, and while Gleyber’s big league career is only two games old, Andujar has made a real impact over the last ten days or so. Enough of an impact that you can’t help but wonder how he and Drury will coexist once Drury returns from the disabled list. Look at the all the infielders the Yankees have at the moment:

Miguel Andujar
Tyler Austin
Greg Bird
Brandon Drury
Didi Gregorius
Gleyber Torres
Ronald Torreyes
Neil Walker

Eight infielders deserving of spots on the big league roster, and that list doesn’t even include Tyler Wade, who was sent to Triple-A to make room for Torres on Sunday. Of course, not all eight are available right now. Bird is rehabbing from ankle surgery and is still a few weeks away. Drury is slated to begin a rehab assignment Wednesday and is probably at least a week away.

Gregorius isn’t going anywhere. Torreyes probably isn’t going anywhere either. He’s quite valuable as a utility guy who can come off the bench and produce at a moment’s notice. Torreyes is perfect for the reserve infielder’s role. All those other guys though? That’s where it gets complicated. Some things to keep in mind about the infield logjam:

1. It’s too soon to cut Walker. Walker hasn’t hit much so far — he’s sitting on a .183/.246/.217 (25 wRC+) batting line at the moment — but the track record is there and it’s worth being patient with a switch-hitter who can play the three non-shortstop infield positions. Maybe Walker is the new Chris Carter, that cheap late offseason pickup who seems like a good fit and just never gets it going. It could happen. It’s too early to say that though. Way too early, I think.

Besides, the Yankees probably won’t cut ties with Walker until Bird returns at the earliest. Let’s be honest here, Bird has had lots of trouble staying on the field the last few years, and the Yankees aren’t really in position to give away first base depth. Perhaps Adam Lind will show enough in Extended Spring Training to warrant a longer audition, and make the Yankees feel good enough about unloading Walker. Eh. I think Walker’s roster spot is safe for the foreseeable future, like it or not.

2. Austin will have to keep hitting to stick around. Through 21 games Austin is hitting .296/.377/.611 (168 wRC+) with four home runs, which more or less matches the best case scenario for Bird coming into the season. Bird got hurt, Austin took his spot, and he’s taking advantage of the opportunity. Good for him. It was hard to see where he fit in the organization before these first few weeks.

Austin’s performance has been very good but the underlying skills are unchanged. He’s a first base only guy and his defense isn’t very good at all. Furthermore, he’s a right-handed batter with a history of struggling against right-handed pitchers, and a defensively limited righty platoon bat isn’t exactly a hot commodity. Austin has hit righties very good so far this season, but:

  • Austin vs. RHP: 9-for-34 (.264) with three homers
  • Austin vs. non-Marco Estrada RHP: 6-for-29 (.216) with no homers and 46.9% strikeouts

Austin had the two-homer game against Estrada in the opening series and he took him deep this past weekend too and hey, those games and those homers count. They helped the Yankees win. (The Yankees actually lost both Estrada games, but not because of Austin.) The point is Austin’s early season numbers against righties are skewed. Estrada is a finesse guy who doesn’t crack 90 mph often. Righties with velocity have given Austin a hard time.

As good as Austin has been, his roster spot very well might be in jeopardy once Bird returns in a few weeks. If he slows down at all, especially while seeing more time against righties, the Yankees could go back to the original plan and stash him in Triple-A. Austin is going to have to maintain this pace to force the Yankees to keep him on the roster. A great performance in early April won’t have an impact come roster decision time in mid-to-late May.

Austin. (Elsa/Getty)

3. The Yankees are carrying eight relievers. It seems Drury is expected back reasonably soon — again, he’s tentatively scheduled to begin a minor league rehab assignment Wednesday — and when he does return, the Yankees do not necessarily have to send down Andujar or Torres (or Torreyes). They can send down a reliever. Maybe Jonathan Holder, maybe Domingo German, maybe the recently acquired A.J. Cole. A reliever. Doesn’t matter which one.

By time Drury returns the Yankees will be approaching the end of his 18 games in 18 days stretch, and once this stretch ends, the Yankees will have four off-days in the next two and a half weeks. Carrying an extra reliever may no longer be necessary. Demote a reliever, activate Drury, and the Yankees are rolling with a seven-man bullpen and four-man bench. Crazy idea, I know. But it just might work.

Fitting Drury onto the roster won’t be a problem. Divvying up the playing time? That’s another matter. That’s something Aaron Boone and the Yankees will have to figure out. Perhaps that means moving Torres and Walker around, and maybe even Drury as well. He’s played second base and the corner outfield spots in the past. I know this much: However the playing time gets distributed, fans won’t be happy. Some who isn’t playing should be. Such is life.

4. This will all work itself out. As a wise man once said. Remember when the Yankees had too many outfielders in Spring Training, then Jace Peterson and Shane Robinson started the 9th, 10th, and 11th games of the regular season in the outfield? The infield logjam will work itself out like that. The Yankees appear to have too many bodies for two few infield spots, then, before you know it, Peterson will be starting at third base or something.

Does it look like the Yankees will have to make some tough infield decisions once Drury and Bird return? Yes, absolutely. Andujar and Austin have played well, Torres is a top prospect who deserves a long look, Bird and Drury have a chance to be really good, and Walker’s track record is tough to ignore. It might take some creativity to get everyone playing time, but having too many good players is never a problem. And besides, baseball has a way of making sure too much of anything never lasts.

Game 17: Sabathia’s Return

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(Presswire)

It’s no secret the Yankees have struggled to prevent runs so far this season. They’ve averaging 5.44 runs allowed per game, fifth most in baseball, and things have been especially bad lately. The Yankees have allowed at least six runs in six of their last seven games, and in seven of their last nine games. It’s the pitching and defense. The defense has been so bad Aaron Boone told Bryan Hoch the Yankees will hold a defensive workout tomorrow.

CC Sabathia makes his hopefully triumphant return from the disabled list tonight, and while he is no longer the pitcher he was in his prime, he’s still perfectly capable of giving the Yankees five or six good innings. He wiggled through five innings of one earned run ball against this same Blue Jays team a few weeks ago. A repeat performance would be welcome tonight. Hopefully the defense decides to cooperate. Here are the lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. SS Didi Gregorius
4. DH Giancarlo Stanton
5. C Gary Sanchez
6. CF Aaron Hicks
7. 1B Neil Walker
8. 2B Tyler Wade
9. 3B Miguel Andujar

LHP CC Sabathia

Toronto Blue Jays
1. DH Steve Pearce
2. LF Teoscar Hernandez
3. 1B Justin Smoak
4. 3B Yangervis Solarte
5. CF Kevin Pillar
6. SS Aledmys Diaz
7. RF Randall Grichuk
8. C Luke Maile
9. 2B Devon Travis

RHP Aaron Sanchez

Yet another cold and windy day in the New York area. We’ve had like two nice weather days here since February. Anyway, it’s another 6:35pm ET start tonight. I’m a fan and I’m going to enjoy them while the last, because I don’t think they’re going to last much longer. WPIX and MLB Network will have the broadcast. Enjoy the game.

Roster Moves: As expected, Luis Cessa was placed on the 10-day DL with a left oblique strain today, the Yankees announced. That clears a roster spot for Sabathia, who was activated off the disabled list.

Injury Updates: Clint Frazier (concussion) is working out “full bore” in Tampa, and he could begin playing in minor league rehab games very soon according to Boone … Tommy Kahnle has biceps and shoulder tendinitis, and will be shut down ten days. The Yankees don’t believe it’s serious, and Kahnle is expected to miss three weeks or so.

Suspension Update: Tyler Austin’s appeal was heard today. He said he was told a ruling may not be handed down until next week, however. His five-game suspension could be reduced to four games, or maybe even three, but it won’t be wiped away entirely. Austin did charge the mound, after all.