New York Post | Dan Martin: A day after returning to the field for the first time since suffering a right elbow flexor strain on July 25th, Aaron Judge reverted to DH duty Saturday, holding Giancarlo Stanton out of the lineup in the process. Jasson Domínguez started in left with Cody Bellinger in right — a decision that ended up working out nicely considering Domínguez’s RBI hit and Bellinger’s missile throw home to nail Bo Bichette as the potential tying run during the Yankees’ win.
Back to Judge
though: after a contentious media availability Friday, Aaron Boone confirmed that his captain is not at full strength in the field. Boone indicated that the team worked on alternate cutoff throws to ease him back into play. “We worked [on it] the last couple of weeks. If you guys were paying attention, we worked on different creative cuts and stuff like that.” the Yankee manager (condescendingly) sniped before Saturday’s game. “We’ll continue to do that and hopefully evolve it as we go.” Blue Jays skipper John Schneider acknowledged a conscious attempt to test Judge’s arm Friday in a sequence that led to a run scoring easily due to an alternate cutoff throw.
ESPN | Associated Press: Astros outfielder Taylor Trammell will not face discipline for a bat that was removed from play on Thursday. He said that he met with MLB, who informed him of the latest update. Yankees manager Aaron Boone asked the umpiring crew to look at Trammell’s bat due to some discoloration around the barrel. Since bats are required to consist of two sections, each with one solid color, Trammell’s bat was deemed to be nonconforming but in a manner that did not give him a competitive advantage. For his part, the former Yankee was circumspect about the incident. “It’s kind of a cool, funny little story,“ he said Friday. ”Respect for both organizations, and glad how everything kind of turned out.”
Boone himself was fine with the decision and remarked that he was primarily just doing his due diligence. “Frankly, that was something hard for me to do because I don’t think Taylor was up to anything. I really don’t,” Boone said. “In the moment, I felt like a duty to at least check in for my team. But you know, I’m frankly satisfied with the ruling, the explanation.”
New York Post | Erich Richter: CC Sabathia will be honored today at 1pm ET at Yankee Stadium for his 2025 National Baseball Hall of Fame induction. When asked about the current team, he took an opportunity to defend Anthony Volpe in a recent interview amidst the embattled shortstop’s difficult season on both sides of the ball. “People need to relax,” he told Richter. “It’s hard to develop young talent here. Just because of the demand, right? Like, we’re trying to win the World Series every year. You don’t have time for guys to go through growing pains.”
The Hall of Famer compared Volpe to Miguel Andujar and Gary Sánchez*, two other once-promising youngsters who never fulfilled their potential in pinstripes. Sabathia also discussed his love of retirement (“Man, I should have retired 15 years ago”) and upcoming charity golf event through the PitCCh In Foundation.
*Editor’s note: Love CC to death, but I can’t help myself in this instance. Volpe has never had a season as good as Gary’s 2016-17, and I’d argue for Miggy’s 2018 to be better, too. The man has no consistent big-league track record to fall back on as proof that he can do this. /steps down off soapbox/ – AM
Finally, the Yankees paid tribute to a former rival prior to yesterday afternoon’s game. Davey Johnson played against the Yanks with the Orioles from 1965-72, contributing to two World Series champions and four pennant winners. He later had a long managerial career, most famously leading the crosstown Mets to a 1986 World Series triumph over the Red Sox. Johnson later returned to Baltimore and managed against New York in the 1996 ALCS, which Joe Torre’s club won in five. He made the playoffs with the Reds and Nationals as well before retiring in 2013. It was a helluva career for the popular skipper, who passed away on Friday at age 82. Rest in peace, Davey.
