The really good teams don’t make a big deal about injuries – they play through it and view the situation as an opportunity for a bench player to make his mark.  SU says that over the years, the Yankees have adopted that approach.  There is no hysteria, no gnashing of the teeth.  The Red Sox usually do it the opposite way and focus on their bad luck.

The injury to Aaron Judge is bad but could have been worse.  It sounds like a minimum of 3 weeks but likely longer as he will need time to to rehab a bit.  So, what are the options for the Yankees?

• Timing is everything.  Clint Frazier is the obvious choice but he is in another concussion protocol.  Bad luck for this dude.  Not sure how long he is out for but he just started this latest one last week.
• Next up would be Billy McKinney but they just traded him for Happ yesterday afternoon.  Can you believe that?
• Then there is Jacoby Ellsbury who has still not resumed baseball activities down in Tampa.  SU suspects that they have him mowing the practice fields down there and putting the baselines down each morning.  He is not an option.
• Tyler Wade can play the outfield but he is still over-powered by Major League pitching.
• They added this guy Shane Robinson to the roster yesterday.  He will probably get some at bats.

Bottom line: with both Judge and Sanchez out now, this is no longer a home run hitting machine.  They need to hit and run, move runners along and hit against the shifts.  It will be interesting to see how they adjust.

SU liked the Happ trade.  Drury will likely become an every day player in Toronto but he was blocked in NY.  McKinney has a lot of power but doesn’t hit for average and he never would have made it up here.  Happ is a rental and has good career numbers against the Red Sox.  SU doesn’t love him but you didn’t give up anything so worth the risk.  Clearly better than Cole Hamels.  That would have been a disaster.

We will see if the Yankees’ generational player, Stanton, now rises to the occasion and becomes “the man.”  SU will be curious on that front.  Sonny Gray was good again and you have to hope his thumb is ok.  He is emerging now as hoped for when they got him last year.  Btw, German was taken out of his minor league start yesterday and was holding the same spot on his arm where he had surgery previously.  That’s too bad.  But as they say, “next man up.”

SU liked the trade for Zach Britton.  It accomplished two goals:

1. First, he is probably the best pitcher that is truly available to the Yankees right now.  Ideally, they would have acquired a starter but other than deGrom, no one out there is worth the prospects it would take.  None of the guys included in this deal are considered to be top prospects and let’s face it, the Yankees are not great at developing their own pitching prospects who will become starters.  True, Severino is a stud but Sheffield came via Cleveland and the others are not sure things.
2. Equally important, the trade for Britton prevented the Red Sox and Houston from getting him.  They both need a top line reliever and the Yankees have taken Britton off the market.

It also provides some insurance for Chapman whose knee has to be a concern down the stretch.

Now, consider this: if Tommy Kahnle can somehow regain his form, would the Yankees ever consider doing a Tampa Bay and lining up all of their relievers in a key playoff game?  They almost have enough of them now to throw out a top group of pitchers.  The reality is that they are likely better than most of their starters.  Just a thought for October.

Look for Cashman to pick up a catcher in the coming week as well.  Romine is certainly serviceable but Sanchez is supposed to be out “several weeks” and there is no way they bring him back too soon again.  If Romine gets hurt, they are really short at this position right now.

The return of Torres is huge.  He can actually put the ball in play.  What a concept.  Big game today – cannot lose another series to the Rays.

OK, the Yankees just announced that Sanchez re-aggravated his groin injury and was placed back on the DL.  It’s not clear if he re-injured himself not hustling after the passed ball in the 1st inning, not hustling down to 1st base in the top of the 9th or having Severino chase after him around the clubhouse after game.  Either way, you won’t have Gary Sanchez to kick around for a number of weeks.

Too bad.  It’s good to have some controversy in a feel good season.  We will never know what would have happened here with Aaron Boone.  Clearly, he came back too soon.  The question is how did the Mets’ medical team get involved for that to happen?

SU just stumbled across this trade rumor on http://www.mlb.com:

Proposal No. 4 (via @lou_sigillo)
Yankees get: Right-hander Lance Lynn
Twins get: Right-hander Sonny Gray

This is an interesting thought for both teams to consider and one that could make sense if the Yankees think Lynn gives them a better chance than Gray to win a World Series title this season. Gray is under control through 2019, making him more attractive to the Twins than Lynn, who is set to become a free agent in a few months. Both pitchers’ numbers seem similar at first glance, but Lynn has looked much better over his past 10 starts (4.30 ERA).

Who says no? The Yankees. While Lynn has pitched better of late, the difference between him and Gray isn’t significant enough for New York to give up Gray’s remaining year of control. The Yanks can always trade Gray in the offseason if things don’t turn around, and they should be able to find a team that thinks Gray can rebound if he gets away from Yankee Stadium, where he has posted a lifetime 6.55 ERA in 15 starts.

SU says absolutely not!!  Lance Lynn is over the hill – on the downside of his career.  And as SU has said before, Sonny Gray is your game #2 starter come October.  Get over it and get used to it.  I do not like the Sonny Gray rumors.  He is definitely coming around now.  The bottom line is that the trade deadline market for starters is really mediocre.  Cashman should not deal just to make a deal.  SU says hold tight and focus on having your catcher run to first base.  Btw, no love for Sanchez on the comments today.  No way is he getting sent down to Scranton.

SU commented about Gary Sanchez yesterday and clearly this must have had some impact on him in last night’s game.  In the first inning, he doesn’t hustle after a passed ball which was really a mix-up in signs with Severino.  Literally does a slow jog after the ball and the runner scores from 2nd base.

Then in the 9th inning, he doesn’t run hard to 1st base with the bases loaded and 2 outs and cost the team another run that would have tied the game.  SU says good to see that he learned from the incident in the 1st inning.  If you saw his post-game comments, he felt badly and said he would learn from this.  Aaron Boone said he hadn’t looked at the video of either play as of yet.  Hmmm.

Here is what you need to know:

1. Joe Girardi got fired, in part, for not being able to get through to Sanchez.  Lacked the communication and motivation skills to take him to the next level (or block balls behind the plate).
2. Sanchez has a history of not hustling and bad behavior going back to his minor league days with the Yankees.  He was suspended for some games and talked to on several occasions during his minor league career.
3. He is hitting .187 this year and is clearly frustrated at the plate.  He leads the major with 10 passed balls
4. When you say, “I will learn from this” SU says that is what you say in 3rd grade when you didn’t hustle down to 1st base.  Sanchez is a major leaguer who clearly knows better.  But no doubt he is a graduate of the Robinson Cano school that teaches players that it’s really too much effort to run hard to 1st base 4 times a game.

He needs to watch tape of Derek Jeter running hard to 1st base for 20 years.  So, what’s going to happen now?  Boone is supposed to be the great communicator and with a record that has been stellar for much of the season, not much to communicate about except “keep it up!”  He did try his hand at actually game managing last night and had Didi bunt in the 9th with runners on 1st and 2nd and no one out.  Bad move as you knew the Rays would walk Stanton, the Yankees’ hottest hitter right now (gulp, ok, I said it).  Hicks, who is from the Brett Gardner school of being red hot or ice cold, is in the cold phase and he grounded out which left it up to Sanchez.  It was just a bad managerial decision.

Last year, Sanchez would hit to right field with power.  He is strictly a pull hitter right now.  Teams over-shift and thus his average is .187.

Who will talk to Sanchez?  CC could but pitchers tend not to be the ones who play that role.  SU says A-Rod needs to get on a plane and have lunch with him today.  Bring J-Lo too.  They seem to have a relationship.  Boone should sit him tonight; no catching and no DH.  SU says he won’t do it though which is a mistake.

All of a sudden, the Yankees’ wild card lead is 7 games.  Severino has had a few bad starts in a row and as SU said recently, they need to watch his innings and give him longer periods between starts.  It’s no time to panic but there is no way you win the division if you can’t win in Tampa.  Time for Aaron Boone to earn his keep.  Let’s see how he does.

SU was disappointed by the Yankee game rainout last night but there was a surprising silver lining.  I stumbled across the new show on Showtime, “Who is America?”, which was laugh out loud funny.  It pushes the word “stupid” to a new level but SU must admit that parts of it were hilarious.

The Yankees were anxious to call last night’s game as deGrom was pitching and with a rain delay, the team plane would not get to Tampa until about 6 am Monday morning.  SU is on board with that.  The game Friday night was unwatchable and 3 hours and 50 minutes of just boring baseball.  Saturday was better although Chapman’s meltdown has to be of concern to the Yankees.  SU says the Yankees’ record, in any other normal season, is off the charts great but right now you get the sense that the wheels are falling off a bit.  German was sent down to work on his mechanics (read: he will be traded for a starting pitcher in the next week), and no starter can go past 5 innings.  This is a formula for a gassed bullpen come September.  You can see this coming.  It’s great to have 4 top relievers but if you are winning a lot of games, you use them almost every day and they will burn out.

Special props to Chasen Shreve who had a massive save on Saturday for Chapman.  He was on the brink of being DFA’d just a few weeks ago but SU gives credit to Boone who does stick with his players.  No way Girardi would have done that.

The Mets showed total chaos with Mickey Calloway’s media session before Saturday’s game and the confusion around Cespedes and if he needs season ending surgery on his feet.  SU thought it was interesting that Michael Kay blasted them on Twitter before the game but then did not even mention it during the game.  If you watch the games this year, he is much less likely to say anything negative about the Yankees on the broadcasts than in past years, they rarely give stats on a player’s slump and he really seems to be pulling his punches.  SU prefers the honest picture – say what you think.  Plus there is so much down time between the strikeouts and home runs, the fans need to be entertained.

Great British Open final round yesterday as Tiger Woods was front and center along with many of the game’s major stars.  SU must say that there seemed to be an unusually large number of commercials although they did show the action during some of them.

SU is still waiting for the trade for a pitcher although I am not interested in any of the usual suspects.  Here’s a thought: trade Gary Sanchez.  I do not see him getting any better defensively and if you are sticking with Stanton who is really a DH, over time you will need to upgrade the catcher position defensively and then where does Sanchez go?  This is going to show up in spades in October as Sanchez will allow a passed ball or drop a throw at the plate in a big spot.  He is a big guy who does not move well behind the plate.  I know he is a better hitter than his .188 average but he just seems to be going through the motions out there.  The point is he would bring a young pitcher in return.  Thoughts?

SU is a long-time Djokovic fan.  The last 2 years have been pretty dismal.  First, the “personal issues” event – we all know what those are typically (see Tiger Woods).  Then, consistent elbow issues and a mysterious “surgical procedure” early this year.  He never took the required time off to recuperate and his road back to top form has been slow.  He fired his entire support team and tried out Andre Agassi for a while but that didn’t take.  He smartly brought back his coach and team and is back on track now.

If you watch him in the post-match interviews with the media, he is a really smart guy.  Very cerebral.  SU watched those interviews for both Nadal and him.  Nadal’s English is not great (even after all these years, his English is pretty choppy) and he struggles to communicate this thoughts.  But it’s clear he is singularly focused on winning.  He doesn’t give that much thought about career legacy, rivalries, etc.  Of course, no one plays more fiercely and he never takes a point off.  Great competitor.  Djokovic looks at things more holistically and SU believes is probably as good an interview for the media as anyone.  He shares a lot about his motivation, life journey, etc.

Andy Murray was doing TV commentary for the BBC at Wimbledon and correctly forecast that Djokovic had a great shot at winning the tournament early on.  SU saw it as well.  It’s impressive that he has won Wimbledon 4 times now on a surface that is not his best.  He is a great player on all surfaces.  If Murray can return, the US Open should be a great event on the men’s side.

The Yankee bullpen failed again on this recent road trip as Boone let Green throw 40 pitches in the 8th inning despite the fact that he had a fairly rested bullpen and the All-Star break coming up.  It was odd that he did not take him out there.  A split vs. Cleveland on the road is fine and if it wasn’t for Boston’s crazy record, you would take that.  They are 4.5 games out now.  They still play Boston 10 times and things happen as we all know.  But SU says the reality is this: even with Torres and Sanchez back, they struggle to score runs not via the home run.  Come playoff time, this is not a formula for success.  SU says that Boone has a half season now to start putting runners in motion, hitting and running and not waiting all the time for the home run.

The latest rumors have the Yankees making a deal with the Angels for a pitcher as their GM was once the Yankees Director of Player Personnel and knows the prospects well in the system.  The Angels should be sellers soon enough – makes sense.

Watch for Joe Girardi to get the Cardinals’ open managerial job.  That would be a great fit for both.  SU says he deserves another shot and that is a stable franchise and he played there after leaving the Yankees so there is some history.

Jeremy Lin is on the move again.  The Nets are trading him to the Atlanta Hawks where he will be playing alongside Oklahoma rookie Trae Young.  SU was ready to go all in on the Nets this year with Caris Lavert there but so it goes.  The reality is that with D’Angelo Russell there, Lin’s minutes (and shots) would have been reduced to a great extent.  Dennis Schroder is still on Atlanta but it appears he will be on the move this summer.  Young is not even close to being ready for the NBA in my opinion and so Lin should get his share of court time in what is a rebuild.  Hey, if he can stay healthy, I am sure he might even be traded to a contender come February but what do I know?

SU is a man without a team for yet another season.  I will look forward to watching the Knicks (Hardaway Jr, Trey Burke, Knox – this guy can play), Lakers (Mo Wagner who should get some minutes and with LeBron, will even touch the ball), Indiana (Glen Robinson III is back) and Miami (Duncan Robinson and Derrick Walton).  Duncan Robinson is a great story – there is room for a shooter who can actually shoot and he is 6-8.  The challenge will be playing in a system where others pass the ball and look for the open man vs. going one-on-one.  As long as Mike Woodson stays away from Miami (and Carmelo), maybe he can play a little.  Bring on the NBA Season Pass subscription for another year!

So Yankee fans, Happ got lit up by the Red Sox last night for his 3rd bad start in a row.  Seriously, Brian Cashman, take a pass on this dude.  He is not the answer.  And while you are at it, DO NOT TRADE FOR MANNY MACHADO AND GIVE UP ANY TOP PROSPECTS.  Are you crazy?  For a rental player?  Once Torres and Sanchez return, do they really need more offense?  SU says it’s stupid.  And do you either trade Andujar or sit him?  For a guy who may only be there 2 months?  Unless Machado can start every 5 days, totally unnecessary.

Right now, your average Yankee starter goes 5 – 6 innings.  Even Severino is going through a dip.  SU says the Yankees should limit his starts and innings the rest of the year.  While he is young and a horse, he throws close to 100 mph and you have to worry about wear and tear.  He shouldn’t have to carry the burden of the rest of the staff’s underperformance.

As predicted here, Sonny Gray was great against the Orioles and he is ready to take off for the 2nd half.  He will be your game 2 playoff starter come October.  Credit to Aaron Boone for sticking with him.  SU is now of the opinion that other than DeGrom, no one out there is worth giving up prospects in a trade.  I will be content going with what they have here plus adding Justus Sheffield to the mix in the 2nd half of the season.  If you can find the lefty relief specialist, sure, pick up that guy but not for anyone good.

Btw, watching Severino struggle last night brought back memories of the Wild Card game where he was knocked out in the 1st inning.  It’s why you want to try and win the division.

A few notes this Friday:

• SU is feeling good about Djokovic.  Even if he loses to Nadal today, he is back.  He is feisty on the court and has gotten over his “there are more important things in life” outlook.  He wants to win again and it’s good for the sport.
• Greg Bird has shown signs of life – finally.  He is still striking out too much but is getting some clutch hits which is huge for the line up – especially now.
• Todd Frazier and his .218 average on the DL.  Bullet dodged by the Yankees this year in not re-signing him.
• No home run derby for Judge please.  Now, if Stanton wants to do it, SU has no problem with that.

Aaron Boone is a rookie manager.  He is not always going to get things right.  Clearly, he is a player’s manager.  He lets everyone swing on 3-0 in the count, he doesn’t call anyone out publicly or even privately it seems, and he respects the veterans.  That’s all good.  You can’t argue with his record to date – right up there with the best teams in 2018.

But SU says the problem is this.  Lately, he has been rolling out the Clay Bellinger line-ups for certain games.  Joe Torre loved to do this.  If Torre won the first two games of a series, he would start Clay Bellinger and every other scrub to try and lose that third game.  The logic was that he had to rest his veterans.  Most times, he lost that 3rd game.  But hey, he’s in the Hall of Fame and he had a great run in NY.

Boone had largely avoided that strategy until lately.  SU says the difference with this year’s team is that he has a very young roster – there are no 35-year old players other than Gardner who need so much rest.  Yesterday was a case in point.  OK, it’s a doubleheader against the Orioles, who while they stink, they play the Yankees tough.  In the first game, he started Wade, Higashioka, Clint Frazier, Neil Walker and Drury.  SU has no problem playing the bench players in these games but why not try and balance the line-ups?  You don’t have to go all in with the bench guys in the same game.  Predictably, they lose.  He also left CC in one batter too long and while SU was not watching live, I was following on the internet and my sense was OK, he’s at 99 pitches, two men on, no one out, get him out.

And if anyone needs a day off, it’s Didi.  He plays every day.  He could legitimately use a blow.

The issue this year is that Boston is beating up on the bad teams and there are so many bad teams out there.  You don’t want to be the wild card as it’s one game and then you never have home field advantage in any series in the playoffs.  This season may come down to the last series up in Fenway but it’s the games that you lose now that are really important and will ultimately determine playoff positioning.

OK, time for a few predictions:

• Clint Frazier has pretty much gotten himself traded now.  Just not taking advantage of his opportunities.  Not his fault necessarily as it’s hard to have that pressure and produce.
• Brandon Drury is also going to be traded.  The Yankees have to hold on to Andujar -he’s the better player with more upside.  Be smart here and resist, Cashman.
• They are going to keep Neil Walker as painful as that is.  He is too versatile and fills the spots that they need to fill at 3rd, 2nd and first.
• I think Bird is going to get demoted.  SU says he is either injured and not telling anyone or else he forgot how to hit.  The Yankees’ productivity at 1st base is truly awful and I think they will give Tyler Austin another shot even though they have no left-handed bats in there.  If Bird is sent down, he earned it.  Boone gave him every chance.
• And….. Sonny Gray is going to turn it around starting tomorrow night.  You heard it here first.  SU just has a feeling.  The time has come.
• While the Yankees are rumored to be in mix now for Manny Machado, I think that is just to drive up the price for whichever team acquires him.

SU knows Met fans feel Yankee fans are spoiled this year but right now, as currently constituted and even if they are fully healthy, the Yankees are not as good as Boston or Houston.  Offensively, too much reliance on the home run and they will not be able to manufacture runs in close playoff games against the elite pitchers.  Cashman will earn his salary in the next 21 days.

As previously stated here, SU tends to stay away from putting trivia questions out there as many are tempted to access the internet very quickly to look up the answers.  But SU thought this was a good question which came up on the Yankee broadcast on Wednesday.

“There have been 3 pitchers who have started both for the Yankees and against them in the World Series.  Can you name them?”

Hint: think modern day era – from the 1970s onward.  Have at it.  SU was able to get 2 of the 3 and was annoyed that I didn’t get the third one.  Neither Michael Kay or Paul O’Neill got any of them which was odd as O’Neill was a teammate of one of them.

SU is a little concerned about Glayber Torres’ injury.  He seems pretty young to have a hip flexor injury but apparently he has been dealing with this for years and does regular exercises to take care of it.  I guess we will see if keeping Neil Walker on the roster will pay dividends now as he slides into 2nd base.  Ronald Torreyes is out on the inactive list – medical issue for a family member.  Brandon Drury will also get some at bats – still waiting for him to show me something.  SU likes the way the Yankees don’t dwell on the injuries – it’s next man up.  That should be the mindset.

As far as getting that starting pitcher, SU does not see anyone out there who is that much of an upgrade other than DeGrom on the Mets.  Cashman and Omar Minaya are friends and that is one to watch.  The worry here continues to be that they will trade Andujar in that deal which SU feels would be a major mistake.

Giancarlo Stanton is hot.  History says watch out for the injury now.  But Clint Frazier is waiting in the wings and is also hot.  He deserves a shot and soon.