NJ Advance Media | Randy Miller:
The Yankees could potentially get two key offensive pieces back soon. Per Miller, both Giancarlo Stanton and Jasson Domínguez ‘could be’ in play by next week, although it’s not official. The former is still running and hitting, and manager Aaron Boone hopes he can return by the next homestand. The Martian, on the other hand, is expected to continue his rehab assignment through the week.MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Aaron Judge and Ben Rice had been in a friendly competition
in the home run department. Now that the Captain will be out for a while with his injury, the first baseman will likely run away with that unofficial ‘crown.’ He could get much more than that at the end of the season if he keeps up his excellent form, though. Some people think that the Yankees’ chances of securing another AL MVP vanished with Judge’s injury, but be careful: Rice might have something to say about that. We all know that any talk about individual awards in June is awfully premature, but the surging slugger has a good chance of being in the race until the end, as Hoch writes.
“Like I’ve said, it’s just keep focusing on today,” Rice said. “Stay in the present, and we’ll evaluate at the end.” Bobby Witt Jr., Yordan Álvarez, and other potential candidates will be formidable competitors. Even Judge can’t be completely ruled out. But the young Yankees infielder is playing at an MVP level, with a 183 wRC+ and 18 homers entering Monday’s action.
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: The trade deadline is still a couple of months away, but part of being the Yankees is assuming that every year, prospects are going to be used as trade bait to bring in win-now pieces, save for very few exceptions. Hoch named outfielder Spencer Jones in MLB’s piece highlighting one trade chip per team, saying that “there’s some question about how seriously the Yankees view Jones as part of their future,” and that he could be used as a centerpiece of a deal for a player to cover one of the team’s current needs, including “a starting catcher.”
Newsday | Erik Boland: The Yankees will be without Judge for at least two months, if not more. Per Boland and rival scouts, the rotation is now tasked with carrying the team for as long as the three-time AL MVP is out. “That rotation looks so much better top to bottom than everyone else’s [in the American League],” a talent evaluator said. “And that’s without Max Fried.”
More than ever before, the Yankees will need to rely on their starters to minimize the impact of losing the best hitter of our generation for several weeks. Even Judge himself knows it: “We’ve got a great pitching staff [that’s] going to continue to carry this team,” he said this past weekend.
