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<\/p>\nThe New York Yankees seem to be in a good spot.<\/p>\n
They have won five of their past six games, and they were able to rest Monday before hosting the American League Central-leading Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday with Cam Schlittler on the mound.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s answer some of your most-pressing questions about where manager Aaron Boone\u2019s squad stands.<\/p>\n
(All stats are as of Monday. Questions have been edited for clarity and length.)<\/p>\n
Should the Yankees prioritize upgrading at third base? \u2014 Simon G.<\/p>\n
The easy answer would be yes. Ryan McMahon\u2019s offense this season has been almost unplayable. But the real answer isn\u2019t clear yet.<\/p>\n
There are still two months until the Aug. 3 trade deadline. For now, the Yankees should continue to look for ways to put Jos\u00e9 Caballero and Anthony Volpe in the starting lineup when they can, and that might often be with Caballero at third base. They should continue to look for ways to get Amed Rosario at-bats versus lefties, against whom he\u2019s hit well this year, posting an .851 OPS in 52 plate appearances against them.<\/p>\n
But the Yankees value McMahon\u2019s defense, and they should. Though his minus-3 Defensive Runs Saved indicate he\u2019s had a terrible year with his glove, he\u2019s been a strong defender over his career. He passes the eye test at the position, still possessing a slick glove and strong arm. His defense should even out eventually.<\/p>\n
His bat remains a major question, though.<\/p>\n
McMahon\u2019s past performance implies he should rebound, at least as part of a platoon. He has a career .757 OPS against righties. But the changes he made to his swing in the offseason and spring haven\u2019t paid off. Another issue? The Yankees owe him $16 million next year, too, and it\u2019s hard to imagine them cutting bait with that kind of salary.<\/p>\n
Bullpen trade targets? Will they call up Carlos Lagrange? \u2014 Garrett L.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a little early to lock into trade targets, given how, historically, so many teams remain in contention leading into the week of the trade deadline, and how many teams typically want to add a reliever (or two).<\/p>\n
Miami Marlins right-hander Lake Bachar could make sense, especially considering his 34.2 percent whiff rate and that he won\u2019t be a free agent until 2031. Would the struggling Kansas City Royals part with lefty Daniel Lynch IV, who\u2019s having a strong season with a 1.93 ERA in 23 games? Lynch, 29, also misses bats (33.7 percent whiff rate) and gets grounders (50.8 percent). Colorado Rockies righty Jaden Hill throws hard (97.2 mph average fastball) and gets lots of swings-and-misses on his 88 mph slider (40.5 percent whiff rate).<\/p>\n
Before the Yankees call up Lagrange, who throws 103 mph, they have to transition him to the bullpen in Triple A to make sure he can handle it. That might still be a ways away. The Yankees have talked about preferring to build a good innings base for Lagrange this season before trying him in the bullpen. They still view him as a potentially high-level starting pitcher and would want him to continue to build in that fashion in 2027. He\u2019s made 11 starts at Triple A this season, compared to 23 last year between High A and Double A.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n Aaron Judge has hit .180 with one home run and a .550 OPS over his past 16 games. (Ezra Shaw \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
What\u2019s with Aaron Judge? \u2014 Multiple submissions<\/p>\n
Through the first two months of the season, Judge hasn\u2019t put up the deity-level production of his previous four seasons. But he\u2019s still having a very good year.<\/p>\n
His .908 OPS isn\u2019t tops on the Yankees. It\u2019s behind Ben Rice\u2019s MLB-best 1.050. Judge\u2019s 17 home runs are tied with Rice for the team lead and they\u2019re five behind Kyle Schwarber, whose 22 are the most in the majors.<\/p>\n
Since May 13, Judge has hit .180 with one home run, eight RBIs and a .550 OPS over 16 games. He has fanned 18 times in 61 at-bats.<\/p>\n
Judge appeared to explain what his biggest issue has been after going 0-for-4 in a May 21 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s about making sure we\u2019re swinging at the right pitches,\u201d he said at the time.<\/p>\n
That would seem to track. It\u2019s not that Judge, at 34, is lacking the physical gifts of prior years. It\u2019s that he may be a little off with his approach.<\/p>\n
Comparing him to last season, he\u2019s chasing more (25.8 percent, up from 22.5 percent), walking less (16.3 percent, down from 18.3 percent) and he\u2019s making less contact in his launch-angle sweet spot (34 percent, down from 39.4 percent). He\u2019s also making more contact with pitches he\u2019s chasing (47.1 percent, compared to 38.8 percent last year), which may be producing more undesirable outcomes.<\/p>\n
Judge also might be getting a bit unlucky. His .533 slugging percentage is well below his expected mark of .600.<\/p>\n
What will the Yankees\u2019 bullpen look like in October if the starting rotation is as follows: Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, Max Fried and Carlos Rod\u00f3n? \u2014 Ron L.<\/p>\n
I think it would be better to look at where the pitchers who are currently with the team would slot in.<\/p>\n
Though Ryan Weathers has pitched well (3.52 ERA, 11 starts), the Yankees might have to move him to the bullpen at some point due to workload concerns. He\u2019s already at 64 innings, and he hasn\u2019t thrown more than 94 2\/3 in the majors since 2021, his rookie year. With Clarke Schmidt (Tommy John surgery) seemingly on track for a September-ish return, it might make the most sense to build Schmidt up as a reliever. Lagrange, Will Warren and whomever the Yankees trade for at the deadline could be in that mix, too.<\/p>\n
Should the Yankees send down Austin Wells to work on his offense? \u2014 Bronx B.<\/p>\n
No. He\u2019s their best option defensively, pitchers like throwing to him, and he hasn\u2019t been terrible against right-handers (.349 on-base percentage). Acquiring a right-handed-hitting catcher to platoon with him would be the better idea.<\/p>\n
Did Spencer Jones\u2019 brief first MLB stint change how the organization views him? \u2014 Brad W.<\/p>\n
No. In Jones\u2019 first trip to the majors in May, he batted .167 (4-for-24) with no extra-base hits and 12 strikeouts with three walks. He whiffed on 38.6 percent of the swings he took.<\/p>\n
Lots of strikeouts and whiffs lead to a low batting average. The Yankees would expect the power to come in a more consistent role, but Jones\u2019 struggles weren\u2019t exactly stunning despite his high ceiling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Yankees seem to be in a good spot. They have won five of their past…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,2704,85],"class_list":["post-710640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}