Do not lose sight of Sonny Gray.  While his strong outing last night came against what is basically a AAA line up in Baltimore, he can still be an effective pitcher.  And he certainly has not lost any confidence:

“If I can throw the ball like that, I know I can get anybody out. I’m one of the best starting pitchers in the league, and I truly believe that. It’s that belief that will keep me moving forward, and continue having success from here on out.”

OK, while he may be slightly delusional, at least he has not allowed his demotion to the bullpen to beat him down.  SU gives him credit for that.  And I am telling you that Gray will be in the mix in October.  It may not come as a starter but he will pitch some important innings.  SU is not a Lance Lynn fan – he has a 5.00 ERA for a reason (as does Gray of course) but his best years are behind him.

While Gray is rising to the personal challenge, Greg Bird is stuck in a 7 for 67 slump and is shrinking while Luke Voit is taking advantage of his chance.  Voit reminds SU of Shane Spencer back in 1998 when he had an incredible 5 weeks down the stretch.  Voit is going to get every chance to play every day down the stretch this year and Bird will need to stay ready.  The reality here is that Aaron Judge may never come back this year.  Broken bones in the wrist area are tricky and there are lots of examples of players who were expected to return but never recovered to that point.  SU can envision line-ups with Stanton in right field, Voit at first and Bird at DH.  It’s possible but won’t happen unless Bird can figures things out.  Otherwise, Boone will go with Walker.

Bird has benefited from “Chase Headley” treatment in 2018 from Aaron Boone.  Headley, long an SU fave, was allowed to play every day by Girardi for weeks on end doing nothing.  Boone gave Bird similar treatment but in the end, decided to give Voit a shot and has now said that “performance matters” this time of year.  SU agrees.  Plus this is New York: you have to produce.

Finally, the US Open is upon us.  SU says the return of many players from injury has really jumbled the seedings and some of the projected matches.  Wawrinka plays Dimitrov in the 1st round tomorrow, and Djokovic could play Federer in the quarterfinals.  On the men’s side, most players are now healthy and this should be a great tournament.  For either Djokovic or Federer to win, they would likely need to beat the other and then Nadal in the finals.  That is a tall order.  SU will go with the Djoker on the men’s side and not Serena on the women’s side.

Finally, SU caught a few minutes of the Giants’ exhibition game Friday night.  Eli looked good and you can envision how the offense with Barkley in there will be quite effective this season.  Of course, Beckham has yet to play and you can’t minimize his personal disruption to team chemistry.  SI has the Giants going 8-8 which seems optimistic but if the defense is improved and the offensive line is better, that could happen.  A lot of “ifs” though.  SU’s official and fearless NFL predictions are yet to come.