New York Post | Greg Joyce: George Lombard Jr. exited a game against the Red Sox last Saturday with a knee injury, and a fan base held its collective breath. Well, Lombard appears to have escaped serious injury, and now it sounds like he could return to the lineup as early as today. “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse … but it is trending and looking like that is going to be the case,” Aaron Boone said Wednesday. “It’s been progressing every day,” Lombard said, with the rookie having been doing
agility drills onfield before games this week.
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: Through the first three months of the season, Austin Wells struggled through the worst stretch of his pro career, posting one of the ugliest slash lines of any player in the league. He hit the IL with cervical headaches in June, and still struggled for a couple weeks after returning. But since early-July, Wells has been money, posting a near-.800 OPS while providing his typical excellent framing behind the plate. “It was just kind of the understanding of where my swing was at, and then how I was missing, whether it was actually missing or fouling stuff off I should be hitting,” Wells said. The catcher came through with a huge hit in extra innings Wednesday night, which felt like a milestone moment in what’s been a vital turnaround for the once-beleaguered backstop.
MLB.com | Courtney Hollman: The Yankees, and the rest of the league, have hit the stretch run, and every game from here on out is crucial. Hollman runs through the details of how the Yankees are preparing for the season’s final stages, as they await the return of Aaron Judge and eye the Rays in first place in the AL East. “We’ve got a great opportunity in front of us,” Boone said. “Put ourselves in position, like I’ve said a lot, to realize all our hopes and dreams and our goals. But we’ve got to play well, and hopefully, we’re at our best when it matters the most.” Judge’s arrival is the big potential domino to fall in the coming weeks, but also important is the team’s pitching puzzle. The Yankees will apparently piggyback Will Warren after Max Fried starts against the Padres, while they also weigh their options in the bullpen, with John Schreiber and Michael Fulmer recently added to the mix, and the likes of Clarke Schmidt and Ryan Weathers working back from injury.
