Just over a quarter into this unusual 60-game season, this is where the Yankees stand: A 10-6 record, leading the American League East. They have one of the most talented rosters and best records in Major League Baseball, and lead the American League in runs and home games starting Sunday afternoon.
However, when they embarked on a weekend trip to Florida to play the Tampa Bay Rays, there were a few reasons for concern.
On Sunday morning, Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who was on a rolling start to the season, placed on the 10-day injured list with a left-handed hamstring penalty. They made the grid move even before a magnetic resonance imaging study was completed, a telling sign of the severity of Stanton’s injury.
Then, at noon, the Yankees saw a promising start from pitcher James Paxton evaporate in a 4-3 loss against the Rays, their division’s toughest opponent. It limited a closely contested loss of four-game series to the Rays (8-8), who before they were pitted against the Yankees. All three Yankees losses to Tampa Bay were by two runs or less, and all games were exciting: there were pitches thrown in and out, ejections and glaring or jawing at the other dugout.
“I know it’s a short season, but we’ll see them again and we’ll fight it the rest of the way with them,” Paxton said.
Although the Rays started slowly, in no small part in their sluggish defense and hitting, they showed this Yankees this weekend that they remained a feisty enemy a year after winning 96 games, a handful short of the Yankees’ 103 victories. “I’ve been here a long time and they always play hard for us,” said Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner.
While the Boston Red Sox have long been the archives of the Yankees, the Rays and Yankees have obviously not been friendly opponents in recent years. CC Sabathia, the Yankees’ longtime pitcher who retired after the 2019 season, has been at the center of several renovations with the Rays over the years, including in 2018 when he was Rays catcher Jesus Sucre struck in retaliation for Yankees catcher Austin Romine dodging a pitch near his head.
Aaron Judge, the Yankees star outfielder, said on Saturday that past episodes were still on her mind when she saw Rays pitchers, again challenging her teammates, such as DJ LeMahieu and Gio Urshela, with pitches high and tight. The Yankees missed out on the aggressive pitching in Saturday’s doubles matchup, resulting in the battle of coach Marcus Thames being beaten by hometown referee Vic Carapazza, who also ousted Yankees manager Aaron Boone for the defense of Thames.
“It’s pretty frustrating to think she can not shoot and say nothing against her,” the Rays’ Brandon Lowe told reporters after Sunday’s game. “They’ve been doing it all along and for us not to do it back, it’s a little childish.”
For the Yankees, their formula for winning this short season reflects that of last season: One of the highest scoring lineups in baseball and a stout ball coverage for an inconsistent starting rotation.
On Sunday, the Yankees’ bulls had a 3.49 ERA, 11th-best in baseball. That counted as an achievement given the departure of star closer to Aroldis Chapman, who is working his way back to testing positive for the coronavirus on July 11, and Tommy Kahnle, a key reliever who underwent elbow surgery last week hie.
The starting rotation, on the other hand, had produced a 5.13 ERA, ranking 23rd in baseball, which entered Sunday, despite strong performances from newcomer Gerrit Cole. The creations of Paxton and JA Happ have been particularly problematic for the rotation. Paxton, who had surgery in early February, showed reduced speed and off-kilter mechanics in his first two starts of the season.
But against the Rays, the Yankees’ winning formula was sometimes out of the way. For a strong Rays pitching staff, the Yankees managed 14 runs in four games, spreading several fruitful scoring opportunities.
Paxton, however, looked much better on Sunday. Although his speed was not yet at his normal level – his fastball averaged 95 mph last season – it was up to 92 mph, a slight tap up from his first two starts. What was markedly better was Paxton’s command, and the movement of his fastball. He struck out 11 and allowed just one hit over six innings before it all unraveled in the seventh.
Paxton put pitches over the plate in the seventh inning after the Rays ‘Mike Brosseau and Lowe, who both ran home to erase the Yankees’ 3-0 lead. In the ninth inning, Zack Britton, who had not given up prior to a run this season, had a wild pitch, a walk and two hits, including a walk-off, run-scoring single to Michael Perez.
“A pretty frustrating day,” Britton said. He later added, “To be expected, close games against these guys.”
If the Yankees take the field again on Tuesday, back in the Bronx against the Atlanta Braves, they will be without one of their most valuable hitters, at Stanton. Their mishap so far has had some sputtering hitters – Gary Sanchez and Gleyber Torres – and some standouts – LeMahieu, Judge, Urshela and Stanton.
The Yankees had only used Stanton, who was recovering from a calf injury sustained at the spring training camp in February, as the designated hitter deliberately – took extra care to try to keep him healthy.
He also changed his body to try to avoid a repeat of 2019 in which he played in only 18 games. Stanton, who is reportedly at 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, said he has lost 20 pounds since last season in an attempt to reflect the physicality of the earlier, healthier years of his career. It worked: He looked like the 2017 NLMVP version of himself, for whom the Yankees drew a blockbuster trade with the Marlins, hitting .293 with three home points and nearly as many walks (10) as strikeouts (11).
But when the Yankees played Stanton in both games of a doubleheader for the first time this season on Saturday, he felt uncomfortable running to second base at a wild pitch in the second game. Boone said he hopes the Yankees will be able to keep Stanton healthy, both in the short and long term.
“It will be a difficult loss, even though he is still long,” Judge said. “But our motto is, just like last year, the next man up. We have a dedicated team. ”
