The Athletic | Brendan Kuty ($): Many worried how the Yankees offense would suffer in the absence of Aaron Judge as he recovers from a broken rib, and while they will always be a better team with him in the lineup, they have to feel encouraged about the sweep they just completed over the Guardians scoring 18 runs across the three games. Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham, and Paul Goldschmidt in particular stepped up in Cleveland and the hope is that they can continue to lead the team into the summer.
Also contained within this series takeaway was a nugget that Ryan Weathers was seen warming up in the bullpen in the fourth inning on Wednesday and was “in play” as a reliever according to Aaron Boone despite being scheduled to start against the Blue Jays on Friday. It offers an insight into the Yankees’ rotation plans as Max Fried makes progress in his elbow injury rehab, Weathers perhaps now the first name on the chopping block for a move to the bullpen.
Yahoo! Sports | Jordan Shusterman: Gerrit Cole labored through his Tuesday night start against the Guardians, though it is interesting to note that he threw his first 100 mph fastball in an MLB game since September 28, 2022. Cole offered some insights into the possible cause of the bump in velocity, noting the hot, humid weather and a very elevated heartbeat up to what he felt was around 185 BPM. He did admit that he was completely gassed by the 29-pitch third inning where the Guardians scored two runs, but also felt encouraged that he was able to complete four innings and limit the damage to two.
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: As Anthony Volpe neared his season debut from offseason shoulder surgery, Aaron Boone promised the media and fans that José Caballero had played well enough that he would not lose the starting job at short should Volpe hit better than him upon returning. Well, it turns out that is exactly what happened, Volpe riding a ten-game hot streak to start his campaign to effectively steal the starting shortstop job from Caballero. Volpe has gone cold since then with a 78 wRC+ in 20 total games yet continues to receive the lion’s share of starts at short despite several notable fielding blunders and non-competitive at bats. To be fair, Caballero has gotten starts in the outfield with Judge injured, but that is also taking playing time away from guys like Spencer Jones and Max Schuemann, both of whom have been more productive hitters than Volpe in limited playing time.
New York Post | Ryan Dunleavy: Jasson Domínguez is nearing his return from a shoulder injury and has been learning a new position in his Triple-A rehab assignment. Domínguez manned right field in his two outings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre despite playing just one game there in the minors and none in the majors. The idea is that it will give him the opportunity for more reps between right and DH with Judge and Giancarlo Stanton sidelined. Once Domínguez has completed his rehab assignment, Spencer Jones is the most likely to be optioned to make room on the major league roster, though Boone did not guarantee an immediate call-up and committed to playing it day-by-day based on the performances of Domínguez and Jones.
NJ Advance Media | Randy Miller: In addition to overlapping on the report of Domínguez’s position change, Miller provides an update on Carlos Lagrange’s progress transitioning to a bullpen role. Lagrange tossed four scoreless innings of one-hit ball while striking out seven in his first relief appearance as the bulk guy to follow and opener before giving up a run on three hits and a walk in 2.2 innings his next time out. He had five days of rest in between those relief appearances and the plan now is to reduce the time between outings. The Yankees still believe his long-term future is as a quality big league starter, but the hope this year is that he can reinforce the struggling big league bullpen with his triple-digit heater.
