The Athletic | Chris Kirschner (subscription required): Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe has had a season to forget. Between struggles at the plate, defensive miscues, and a decline in his baserunning ability, he has been undeniably one of the least productive full-time players in Major League Baseball this season. And yet, the Yankees — at least publicly — continue to defend their young shortstop unconditionally despite his struggles, and despite the fact that with the acquisition of José Caballero,
they now have a viable alternative at the position.
The Athletic isn’t the only publication to discuss the Yankees’ unconditional support of Volpe. Gary Phillips of the Daily News posted an almost identical article yesterday as well, which can be found here.
Rotowire: The Yankees bullpen looks to be getting some immediate reinforcement. Fernando Cruz, whose reinvigorated splitter made him a dominant bullpen arm for the Yankees prior to his injury, is expected to be activated from the injured list either today or tomorrow. With the Yankees’ Trade Deadline acquisitions failing to reinforce a bullpen that was a major part of the July portion of the summer slide, Cruz will hopefully provide some stability for a relief corps in need of it.
NJ.com | Max Goodman: Speaking of injury returns, outfielder Austin Slater, who strained his hamstring in the first inning of his first start as a member of the Yankees, has resumed baseball activities. While he is still quite a bit away from a return to action — initial estimates had said four-to-six weeks, which would put his return somewhere between early- and mid-September — the Yankees could certainly use his ability to hit left-handed pitching off the bench.
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Against the vast majority of the teams in the league, the New York Yankees have been a fairly dominant team — inconsistent, certainly, but capable of hanging with and beating almost everybody. Against their two biggest division rivals this season, however, the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays, they inexplicably forget how to play baseball. After yesterday’s brutal loss that saw the team clinch its eighth straight loss across three dropped series against their arch rivals, the team simply admitted that they haven’t been good enough against the teams that matter most this season.
SNY | Ben Krimmel: Krimmel provides us with a few Yankees notes to round out this morning’s news. Aaron Judge has progressed to 150 feet in his throwing program, but is still feeling the effects of the flexor strain suffered prior to the deadline. While Aaron Boone does not believe that the injury is affecting No. 99’s performance at the plate, the reality is that Judge has not really looked himself since returning from the injured list.
