MLB Trade Rumors | Steve Adams: The Yankees do not expect Aaron Judge to be ready for the Wild Card round, manager Aaron Boone announced Tuesday. While not surprising given his exit from a game last week with a calf strain, Judge’s absence deals a blow to a squad that’s been without its captain for most of the season. With Judge back on the shelf, the Yankees’ outfield consists of Cody Bellinger, Spencer Jones, and Heliot Ramos. Trent Grisham, who’s on the IL, could return in time for the postseason,
and Jasson Domínguez lurks as a dark horse as well.
New York Daily News | Gary Phillips: ($) With their victory in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Rays, the Yankees clinched home field advantage for the Wild Card round. After dropping the second game, and with it the AL East, that means they’ll host the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium for a best-two-out-of-three set for consecutive seasons. “You gotta give them credit,” Boone said of the Rays. “They’ve won a ton of games this year, games that have been probably up in the air late and they’ve come out on top. So they’ve had a great year, and they’re always a challenge to play.”
The Ringer | Ben Lindbergh: As the season winds to a close, Lindbergh uses the test cases of Pete Crow-Armstrong and Jacob Misiorowski to explore the chasm between pitcher and position player value. Despite being utterly dominant — posting a 1.86 ERA and recording 247 strikeouts — the Miz’s 6.5 fWAR is dwarfed by PCA’s 10.4. This disparity has become the norm in recent years as starting pitchers have seen their workloads rapidly diminish, a phenomenon that will continue to impact their stature in the game (and at the negotiating table).
