The Yankees acquired a potential new star. On Monday night in the Bronx, Edwin Encarnacion made his debut in pinstripes. However, he would not get an opportunity to introduce his parrot to the Bronx faithful (which included Kevin Costner), as the bulk of the contribution came from a few of his new teammates.
Yankees’ Tanaka Goes The Distance
As John Sterling says, “The sun will come out, Tanaka. Bet your bottom dollar with Tanaka. The sun will shine.” Anyways, back to the game.
Masahiro Tanaka would turn in his best start of his 2019 campaign after being shaky in his last few starts. (He gave up at least four earned runs one each of his last three outings), tossing a 2-hit complete game shutout against Tampa Bay and throwing just 111 pitches in the process. The Yankees’ right-hander made the Tampa Bay offense look silly all night long; by striking out 10 to go with one walk on the evening. This making quick work of the Rays through the first three innings.
This was a much needed performance for Tanaka, who was off to a hot start in 2019. With three solid starts to kick off his campaign, before taking a bump in Anaheim in late April while also getting hit hard in Arizona against the Diamondbacks on May 1.
Tanaka fell to 3-5 overall on June 4 in a loss to Toronto, as he struggled to pick up a decision in a run-fest game against the Mets last week.
With this performance against the second-place Rays, the Yankees hope Tanaka can return to ace-like form, given the lack of consistency in the Yankees current rotation, with the likes of James Paxton and JA Happ both being inconsistent for the better part of 2019. In making Tampa Bay look off-balance last night with arguably his best cutter all season long, Tanaka looks to take off headed into the summer.
DJ Gets The Party Started
Yonny Chirinos toed the slab in the Bronx Monday night for Tampa Bay, tossing two scoreless innings to kick things off, before serving up 2-run jack to DJ LeMahieu, who continues to be a shining star in Aaron Boone’s operation. He deposited the fastball from Chirinos over the left-center field wall in the bottom of the third to put the bombers up 2-0.
LeMahieu continues to roll as the Yankees’ third baseman raised his batting average to .311 on the season, continuing to be Brian Cashman’s prized acquisition of the offseason and worth every penny of his two-year, $24 million dollar contract thus far. With the season-ending shoulder injury to Miguel Andujar, the former National League batting title winner has more than filled his shoes, adding a much needed spark to the top of the Yankees’ order.
Cameron Maybin Hanging On For Dear Life
The bombers would tack on one more run before the end of the night, coming in the form of another long ball, off the bat of a red hot Cameron Maybin, who continues to fight for his job with Giancarlo Stanton returning to the club for tonight’s game. Maybin deposited another Chirinos fastball over the left-field wall to make it a 3-0 cushion for the bombers, as he continues to shine in Aaron Judge’s absence.
Since joining the club in Arizona back in late April, Maybin has slashed a batting line of .299/.375/.467, being a consistent bat at the bottom of the batting order, including three homeruns in his last four games. He holds on for dear life with Giancarlo Stanton returning to the Yankees’ lineup for tonight’s game after spending much of 2019 on the injured list.
Maybin was chosen to stay once the Yankees made room for Edwin Encarnacion, as Clint Frazier was sent back down to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees had to make a very tough decision, with Frazier hitting .283 in 53 games.
Although, with Aaron Judge seemingly returning later in the week, right behind “Big G”, it doesn’t seem plausible to keep five outfielders on the big league roster. As Brett Gardner would officially become the fourth outfielder and would take a seat for the likes of Judge, Stanton and Aaron Hicks.
With the amount of injuries that the Yankees suffered early on in the season; it almost seemed like an impossible task for the Yankees to tread water in the American League East. The Tampa Bay Rays kicked off 2019 strong, alongside the defending champion Boston Red Sox, who are looming in third place. Aaron Boone called the motto “next man up” and the roster has thrived in that saying.
“Next Man Up”
Gio Urshela, who started his 2019 season in Triple-A Scranton Wilkes Barre, found his way in the bombers’ lineup. This occurred when Miguel Andujar went down with a torn labrum in his shoulder. Urshela has taken full advantage of his opportunity. By coming up clutch on multiple occasions, launching a game-tying 2-run home run against Seattle in early May; with also lacing a walk-off RBI Single against Tampa Bay in late May.
Urshela, who although will presumably stay with the big league club as depth. He will lose playing time after hitting .306/.358/.459 with five homers and 31 runs batted in. Even with the lack of playing time in Urshela’s future, he still has pull in this year’s all-star voting as he currently sits second behind Astros’ Alex Bregman.
Who would have thought one year ago today, Luke Voit and Gio Urshela would potentially be representing the New York Yankees in the 2019 MLB All-Star Game in Cleveland, Ohio?!
It will be interesting to see how the Yankees current problem shakes out. As most of 2019’s success can be attributed to the ascension of Gio Urshela, Clint Frazier, Cameron Maybin, DJ LeMahieu and Luke Voit. Voit and LeMahieu are safe for now. They have continued to rake in New York’s offense. LeMahieu has hit over .300 and played splendid defense all around the infield. Voit seemingly has not had any competition at first base. The injury to Greg Bird, and his .263 batting average that has resulted in 16 long balls thus far. This has led him to the current number one vote in this year’s All-Star Game at first base.
Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman have some decisions to make. They all start today with the re-emergence of “Big G” Giancarlo Stanton. Who looks to make a big impact in the second game of an important three-game set at home against the second place Tampa Bay Rays.
