The Yankees dropped a dud performance to close out their series with St. Louis, losing 3-1 in a game where they had several chances but continued to be ineffective with their bats. Will Warren had an adventure in the fifth that saw him give up three runs all with two outs, but overall his outing wasn’t bad and not the biggest reason the team lost. The lineup just needs to pull their own weight at some point, especially with the Trade Deadline passed and no more outside reinforcements on the horizon.
Yes, the team is hoping to get Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Giancarlo Stanton back at some point, but there’s still a long stretch of time that this offense will have to manage without any of them.
One other improvement that the Yankees made beside trading for a pair of bats over the course of the deadline was calling up their top prospect, George Lombard Jr. One of the best prospects in all of baseball, Lombard made his MLB debut on Tuesday and launched a solo homer for his first career MLB hit in his second at-bat. It proved to be a valuable insurance run as the offense only produced two runs overall that night, and with the team similarly offensively-challenged on Wednesday Lombard had a chance to add to his early accolades. In the bottom of the eighth following two quick outs, New York worked a pair of walks to bring Lombard up to the plate as the go-ahead run. It was probably unfair to think it, but I couldn’t help but feel the thoughts “signature moment” creep into my head. If the kid managed to convert there, there was no doubt that the Stadium would’ve exploded.
Of course, that moment did not come to be. Ryne Stanek managed to overwhelm the 21-year-old rookie with a pair of fastballs up and got him to expand the zone, striking him out to end the threat and the last real opportunity the Yankees had to tie the game up. Ben Rice walked in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs, but Ali Sánchez got caught looking at strike three to end it. That the Yankees’ hopes are riding on Lombard being one of the sparkplugs to an offense that has so desperately craved one is definitely unfair to him, but his debut showed that he’s clearly got the talent. His play on the field has been tremendous, his defense already looking like a veteran as scouts predicted he’d shine there. But what can we realistically expect from his bat, and what can we dare to hope for?
Projections are never quite kind to rookies debuting midseason, as they simply don’t have a lot to work off of and expect the rigors of facing MLB pitchers for the first time to be a fitting challenge. Lombard is no exception in that category, with Steamer giving him an 87 wRC+ in 39 games played to close out the year, estimating him to display a modest walk rate but otherwise struggle to make much contact. Examining his trends from the minor leagues show that Lombard has always taken a step back initially on promoting to a new level, needing a month or so to find his footing before getting into a groove and displaying his normal level of excellence. That also doesn’t bode well considering there’s only two months left in the regular season.
Lombard is riding one of his biggest hot streaks into this first foray of the major leagues, though. He owned a 30-game on-base streak down in the minors prior to his promotion, and has collected a hit in each of his first two games here in New York. He’s displayed his power already, and he seems like a natural at short turning some clutch double plays in his short stay already. I don’t think anyone is expecting him to explode onto the scene and carry the offense on his back, but if he can stay on the track that he’s found since returning from a brief IL stint earlier this year there’s potential for him to be the third or fourth most valuable bat on the team down the stretch, a significant piece of the puzzle. I think he’ll surpass that 87 wRC+ estimate with relative ease, and perhaps push into the above-average production right away that would really turn things around for this lineup.
We’ve got an off-day ahead of us while the Yankees await their next opponent, but we’ve still got some things going on around here. Andrés starts our day off with a look at how Ryan Weathers has adjusted his pitch repertoire to cut down on his unseemly home run rate, and Sam will have the Rivalry Roundup as both the Rays and Red Sox unfortunately continue to stack wins. Jonathan relives the career of Ron Davis and his emergence as a key Yankees reliever defining the setup man role, while Scott looks at the suddenly stacked RailRiders roster as they get an injection with the trio of Anthony Volpe, Jasson Domínguez, and Max Schuemann arriving and focuses on the potential for Volpe to learn second base while down there.
Today’s Matchup:
Off-day
