Good morning once again everyone reading and everyone in the
Yankees family. This morning I wanted to throw a little mashup of things into
one post as I collect my thoughts before this big weekend for the Yankees. The
Yankees need a September hero and I am prepared to tell you who that hero could
be, the Yankees could be bringing up another arm as rosters expand in September
and this arm wasn’t listed in my post from earlier in the week covering
September call ups and someone poked the bear and woke up Gary Sanchez, didn’t
they? Keep reading as I transfer my thoughts to a theoretical piece of paper
for you all this morning.
Greg Bird hasn’t played for the Yankees in about three
months and the last time he did the left-handed first baseman for New York was seen
hitting a cool .100 so surely I am not about to nominate him to be the Yankees
hero here in September, am I? You’re damn right I am. Bird was not healthy at
all this season after trying to play through an ankle injury that he suffered
in spring training and never seemed completely right at the plate since. Bird
has since had ankle surgery and has been rehabbing down in Triple-A with the
Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders. Bird was slated to play a full nine innings
at first base last night with Scranton and is set to be re-evaluated sometime
today. The Yankees are probably not going to bring Bird up to the Majors with
less than a week to go unless they have to but I fully expect, if healthy and
that is a big “if” with Bird this season, Bird to be up on September 1st.
If Bird won’t be the savior, and the Yankees need a
left-handed bat so they may be putting all their eggs in one Bird basket, then
maybe Starlin Castro can be. Castro isn’t far behind Bird in terms of rehab
after spending time on the disabled list for a second time with a hamstring
injury. Ronald Torreyes has filled in admirably for Castro in the wake of his
injury but having an impact and power bat like Castro’s makes everyone around
him better and ultimately the Yankees better as well.
Giovanny Gallegos could become a big part of the Yankees
bullpen and plans when rosters expand to 40 players on September 1st.
At the time of this writing Gallegos has logged 14.0 innings at the Major
League level and has a 5.79 ERA and 1.43 WHIP to show for it but don’t let that
small sample size fool you. At the time of this writing Gallegos has logged
42.1 innings in Triple-A and has posted an impressive stat line that includes a
4-2 record with five saves, a 1.70 ERA, a 0.87 WHIP and an impressive 14.7 K/9
ratio. With strikeout numbers like that any team can find a spot for you in
their bullpen, especially in September. Gallegos is already on the 40 man
roster and since being converted from a starting pitcher to a relief pitcher
back in 2015 the right-hander has been nothing short of dominant. Gallegos won’t
be Dellin Betances but he could be a very effective bridge from the starter to
Dellin, David Robertson and Aroldis Chapman while Tommy Kahnle struggles to
find himself back in pinstripes.
Finally, who pissed off Gary Sanchez and where can I send
the thank you card? Somebody poked the bear and somebody has unleashed the
Kraken because it seems like every time this guy makes contact he is either
hitting a mammoth home run or knocking in a run. Sanchez is out to prove that
last season was not a fluke and despite some questioning his defense that his
bat is strong. It has always been strong. It will always be strong. Unleash the
Kraken v2!!! All the way to the postseason. Have a great Friday Yankees family.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)