The calendar flipping from June to July was a welcome sight for the Yankees.
After dominating baseball through the first two months of the season, Aaron Boone’s club faced some rocky roads in the previous month. The Bombers went 13-12 in their 25 games during June and seven of those losses were by six or more runs.
“There’s been days where we’ve really gotten it handed to us,” said Boone before Tuesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. “The preparation, the focus, the confidence has been there. We’ve taken a couple of hits on the injury front but I feel like the frame of mind and the focus is where it needs to be and I’m confident we can get this thing going.”
The culprit of these lopsided losses has been the Yankees’ arms. The Bombers ranked 29th in team ERA with a 5.26 ahead of only the NL-worst Colorado Rockies.
The Yankees’ sudden regression on the mound came after ranking within the top 4 in team ERA in both April and May. Boone is confident his group will get back to where they were to start the season.
“I feel like with all of those guys there’s reasons to believe they’ll go out and perform,” Boone said. “It’s not like we’re hoping that a guy that’s not any good has a good one. So there’s optimism there but obviously, we want to be more consistent.”
Luis Gil, Carlos Rodon and Marcus Stroman all owned ERA’s above 5.00 during June after all of them posted below four in the previous two months.
SOTO’S HAND GOOD, STANTON GETTING GOING
The Yankees feel good about recent developments with two big boppers. After a bit of a scare in Toronto, the Yanks seemed to have dodged another bullet with Juan Soto’s hand injury subsiding.
“Yea I think we’re good [with Soto’s hand],” said Boone. “Kind of getting through the last couple of days obviously it was a swelling and pain tolerance thing so feel like we’re in a good spot with that.”
Soto missed Saturday’s loss to the Blue Jays after injuring his hand on a slide into home plate in Friday night’s victory. The 25-year-old originally was not in Sunday’s lineup but was a late entry after feeling good to go.
While their right fielder will remain in the lineup, the Bombers designated hitter is progressing toward a return from his hamstring injury. Giancarlo Stanton did some hitting, throwing and light running on Tuesday — 10 days after his injury. The slugger originally said it would be about four weeks before he could return to the team.
Stanton was slashing .246/.302/.492 with 18 homers in 69 games this season.
CLARKE SCHMIDT MAKING PROGRESS
Clarke Schmidt is working his way back. The right-hander has taken positive steps in his rehab from a right lat strain after his start on May 26 against the San Diego Padres.
The 28-year-old has been throwing for about a week and is moving in the right direction, according to Yankees manager. It is still too soon to tell when the starter will return.
Prior to his injury, Schmidt was in the midst of a breakout season pitching to a 2.52 ERA in 11 starts.
FUTURE’S GAME
The Yankees will send two prospects to the Future’s Game in Arlington, Texas on July 13.
No. 2 prospect Spencer Jones and No. 10 prospect Brock Selvidge will represent the pinstripes. For Selvidge it will be his first appearance while Jones will be playing for a second time during All-Star week.
Jones is beginning to bounce back after a rough start to his Double-A career. The 23-year-old is slashing .252/.332/.420 with nine homers and 45 RBI in 65 games for the Somerset Patriots. Selvidge owns a 3.95 ERA in 15 starts for the Patriots this season.