NYY News: Judge not, a captain's cold start

18/04/2024 11:00

Yanks not concerned with Judge's slow start to season; checking in on this year's Rule 5 draft picks; planning ahead for Sterling's replacement; Cole, Kahnle updates

NY Daily News | Gary Phillips ($): The Yankees have gotten great production out of the top of their lineup with the addition of Juan Soto, the emergence of Anthony Volpe, and the return of a healthy Giancarlo Stanton. One bat up near the top that hasn't gotten going consistently, however, is Aaron Judge, who is batting under .200 through nearly 20 games in already. The team isn't worried about his slow start as Judge has maintained his elite on-base skills and has found a knack for hitting a few out already despite the lack of hits overall, and he's also been finding himself in clutch moments like at the end of Wednesday's game where he drove in the go-ahead runs on a sharp single.

MLB Trade Rumors | Steve Adams: The Yankees were one of the teams targeted the most in the latest Rule 5 Draft, and it makes sense to check in and see how their former prospects are doing as they could be returned to them if their new organizations aren't pleased with their results. Currently, the two active players to watch are Mitch Spence, who has been solid for the Oakland A's bullpen, and Matt Sauer, who hasn't seen much action for a Royals team that has surprised many to this point. If his roster spot gets put in jeopardy later in the year, he'd have to pass through waivers before the Yankees would get him back, but there's a possibility there. (Carson Coleman was also taken from the team, but he's been on the Rangers' IL the whole time so there isn't much to report on there).

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty and Andrew Marchand ($): With John Sterling's immediate retirement, there's a large hole in the Yankees' radio booth to fill. For right now, there's no plans to rush to name a full-time replacement, as Justin Shackil and Emmanuel Berbari are still slated to share the duty of calling games with Suzyn Waldman for the majority of the season. A permanent hiring will be saved for the offseason where they could conduct a nationwide search, and the Yankees will get some say in the decision even though this is effectively a WFAN hiring and not an internal one.

Lastly, Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network filled folks in on the latest injury reports for Gerrit Cole and Tommy Kahnle. The Cole update is more of the same (throwing off flat ground, continuing the rehab schedule), but Kahnle threw a bullpen session a couple days ago and has at least another couple planned before a potential rehab assignment.