The Yankees are wrapping up a tough stretch of games against the AL’s better teams. One more with Houston on Thursday and then Cleveland this weekend. What have we learned?

1. Aaron Judge is irreplaceable. He is the key guy on offense this year and for a home run hitter, has flirted with .300 all year. The issue with Judge in most of his career has been durability. There is always something that pops up and it has often involved his oblique.
2. Joey Gallo is replaceable. SU says playing him is an embarrassment. The telecasts do us a dis-service by not showing the full shifts against him. Late in the count it’s now 4 outfielders and absolutely no one on the left side of the infield. No-one there. He does know how to bunt as we saw last year. His latest slump is now around 3 for 40. The reality is that if he does not hit a home run, it will be an out. Puzzling that he is still here.
3. You cannot play both Hicks and Gallo. Cashman has always liked Hicks but when he bats left-handed, he is Gallo 2.0. Same logic. Somewhere Mark Teixeira is smiling as he also famously refused to change his approach and went from a .300 hitter to a .235 hitter. Chicks dig the long ball. Hicks should only play against left-handed pitchers.
4. The starters are coming back down to earth. No surprise there. Impossible to maintain the pace and you will have to go to something of a quasi- 6-man rotation in the 2nd half of the season to keep total innings down for several of these guys. The bullpen is still solid and Chapman, Loaisiga and German are all about ready to return. Chapman will be interesting regarding how Boone uses him. SU says check your ego at the door.
5. Watch out for the injuries. Gleyber twisted his ankle and has a sore shoulder. IKF has an issue now and Rizzo got nailed on the elbow.

Bottom line: the Yankees still have a huge lead and it’s all about playoff positioning now for October. SU will enjoy the ride and then we will see about the playoffs. Houston will be a very tough opponent for them. They were lucky to win 2 games that series. What is refreshing about this year’s team is that they continue to fight until the end. Last year’s team was content to “tip the cap” by the 3rd inning and pack it in. Also not having Gary Sanchez here seems to be an improvement as well. SU will not complain and expect Cashman to fill their needs around the trade deadline.

Wimbledon has a problem. No Covid protocols are in place and they just just had two top players test positive (Cilic, Berrettini). In a cramped locker room, this is not good. Keep an eye on this for the next few days.

Kyrie Irving: staying or going? This is not a good guy. Apparently, he used to run additional practice sessions last season after Steve Nash concluded the team practice. Kyrie would bring guys out for another session. He really deserves to be a Laker.

How do NBA players get paid $40 – 50 million a season? Is the League that profitable? Smaller rosters mean you can pay more? Stars make more than the MLB stars for half the games.

Full disclosure: SU roots for the Golden State Warriors based on the way they play the game, Steve Kerr and more recently, Jordan Poole who played 2 years at Michigan. I watched most of their games this season on the NBA Season Pass (a good value if you live in New York as who only wants to watch Knick games or the drama queen Nets dealing with Kyrie?). The Warriors play the game the right way. Fast pace, pushing the ball, constant movement and if the other team scores, you race them back down the court on offense.

Steve Kerr is unafraid to speak out on social issues and uses his platform well. Great coach who has navigated many years of Draymond Green. Draymond is annoying and a loud mouth but when his head is on right, he sees the whole court, makes the right passes and cares about defense. The Warriors are actually a very good defensive team. Even Curry has bulked up over the years and can’t be run over anymore in the post-ups down low. Klay Thompson is a great story although his shot selection could be questioned here and there. I guess he has earned it on that team.

The question now is whether they can keep the team together given the salary cap and how much ownership is willing to pay in luxury tax. There are rumors that they will have to trade Wiggins and even signing Poole to a longer term deal after next year might be a challenge. Poole is great to watch and you have to figure they will keep him. The Warriors have some great young guys on the roster and in theory, should be contending for years to come but as we all know, things change in sports. Enjoy them for the moment and appreciate their dynasty. They are a good look for the NBA.

The Yankees swept the Rays so all good in Yankee Land and SU will not complain. I do note that their offense really struggled in all 3 games and the team continues to be carried by the pitching. That really is their strength. Other than Judge and Stanton (and Rizzo’s RBIs), no other numbers jump off the page this year offensively. Rolling Judge out in center field day after day is a bit of a risk. If you are Brian Cashman, you are looking for a center fielder at the trade deadline. The combination of Hicks and Gallo is only workable if the pitching holds up and Judge stays healthy.

I see the run differential and the record and the 10-game lead over Toronto. As Mariano Duncan used to say back in 1996, “we play today, we win today.” That applies to this team. They are winning all of the close games, and they are winning all of the late, close games. While it feels like 1998 for Yankee fans, SU says that team had the circular line-up and the deep bench. I think one more consistent hitter in center field is all you need to solidify the roster and absorb any upcoming injuries. I mean IKF plays every day and while he is not a superstar, he is solid defensively and has had some big hits. He is not easily replaceable right now.

Tyreek Hill already complaining how he was under utilized on the Chiefs and that Tua is a better QB than Mahomes. I mean, why do guys do that? You got paid because of Mahomes. And Tua’s arm strength is not close to most NFL quarterbacks. SU says take the high road and just say thank you.

Long-time subscriber, E. Steele, sent these interesting stats regarding the Yankees’ and Mets’ records and schedules to date:

Strength of Schedule thus far: NY Yankees: 23rd NY Mets: 5th Games vs >.500 teams: Yankees: 22 Games (15 Wins) Mets: 37 Games (23 Wins) Games vs <.500 teams: Yankees: 38 (29 Wins) Mets: 25 (17 Wins) Context goes a long way! #LGM pic.twitter.com/kNrLTUtqGp

SU has noted that the Mets have played the NL West a bunch of times – both at home and on the road. That is the NL’s strongest division. The Yankees have feasted on the Orioles and some of the other bad teams. As long-time subscriber, B. Rosano, points out, the goal is always to beat up on the bad teams and then go .500 vs. the top teams. For the Yankees, the test comes now with series upcoming against the Rays, Blue Jays and Astros. SU has enjoyed the ride so far, of course. The Yankees are carried by their pitching and Judge/Stanton. I will be very, very interested to see how they fare against the better teams. The big concern is still that Judge cannot stay healthy for an entire season, and he has carried the team this year. I mean the dude is hitting over .300 and in baseball this year, that feels like hitting over .350 in a normal season as batting averages are so depressed.

The Mets’ pitching is still down Scherzer and deGrom, but their offense is much more balanced from top to bottom in terms of guys who put the ball in play and get on base. SU would pick the Mets over the Yankees in a World Series if the teams played today assuming deGrom and Scherzer were both healthy.

What is up with the PGA Tour and the break-away Saudi LIV Tour? A number of stars have signed up for the money from the Saudis (and the large appearance fees) while risking suspension from the PGA TOUR. The question will be if the suspensions are permanent. The Major Tournaments, e.g., US Open, can determine on their own who can play, and the upcoming Open this week is allowing everyone to compete. No doubt there will be some awkward moments in the clubhouse, and SU says expect some booing on the course from the fans. Bottom line is that it’s a money grab by some of the top players. I guess the question is whether the PGA Tour will start to offer up appearance fees for top players going forward. SU is not an expert on this but I have read that some of the criticism of the PGA Tour is that they are not looking to give some extra money to the top players vs. those who are ranked 100 or higher. I guess the thinking is that the fans come to see the stars and they should get some up front money for being there. Thoughts? The ATP Tour does not do this in tennis although the top seeds get a bye into the 2nd round of the non-Grand Slam tournaments.

The Boston – Golden State series has been interesting. It feels like we will go to a game 7, and anything can happen this year. The games feature major runs by each team; not like the games are close throughout. Steve Kerr is the master of making game-to-game adjustments with his line ups and playing time. Last night, he went with Gary Payton II for major minutes to emphasize defense over offense. Paid off for him.

Josh Donaldson may not know it yet but his days as a Yankees are counting down to zero. Look, what he said about Tim Anderson was overblown and was not so terrible. SU gives him a pass on that. Donaldson is a career instigator and has rubbed people the wrong way on many MLB Clubs. No doubt Hal Steinbrenner and Cashman were not happy but he apologized and we move on. SU says the problem now is that he went public with a complaint that his Yankee teammates did not have his back. That shows he is tone deaf to the whole incident, and that he put his Black teammates in an awkward position. Rumor has it that Judge spoke to him directly about it and that should have been the end of it. By speaking to the media now, that will be a bridge too far for the Steinbrenners. Unless he returns to the field and starts hitting home runs galore, SU says he will be gone by early July. The Yankees run a corporate operation and do not like controversy, tattoos, long hair, facial hair, etc. LeMaihieu can play 3rd base just fine. Let’s watch how this plays out in the weeks ahead.

SU did not watch the entire NBA playoff game last night but I did follow along in the 1st quarter. It looked like Steph Curry was red hot and determined to get his points. I believe 21 at the end of the 1st quarter. The problem is that your teammates are unable to get into the flow – especially coming off a week layoff. SU says a better approach is to get everyone going early as that will pay dividends the rest of the game for the team. Boston went nuts in the 4th quarter and credit to them for making shots and stealing game 1. I saw some of the physical defense from the Celtics that I thought they would do. It’s basically we are going to grab and hold on every play and dare the refs to call all of the fouls. It makes it harder to run and cut for Golden State, and of course, for the viewer, it mucks up the game a la the 1990s version of the Knicks. We will see how this plays out. The refs end up not calling the fouls. But it’s the playoffs and Golden State will need to adjust in game 2.

Great match between Nadal and Djokovic the other night in Paris. Nadal was locked in and hit an amazing number of lines. Djokovic had his shot serving for the 4th set but fell short. Amazing stat at the French Open: when Nadal is receiving and wins the first point of the game, he breaks serve 66% of the time. Not too shabby and a lot of pressure on the server. Zverev is up as the next victim in today’s semi-finals. He beat Alcaraz in the quarters which was a huge win for him as Zverev tends to choke in the major tournaments. SU says keep an eye on the score today as he is playing with house money and no one thinks he can beat Nadal. Unlikely but he has a puncher’s’ chance to pull the upset.

Finally, can we please pull the plug on Joey Gallo? Surely, there is some outfielder out there who can play better than this. He’s not a bad guy and goes about his business. But he has said that he will not change his hitting style so it is what it is. And that is a sub-.200 average with home runs (occasionally), a lot of strike outs and some walks. The shifts against him are ridiculous but he won’t adjust. If you are going to keep and play Aaron Hicks, you don’t have the luxury of keeping and playing Gallo too.