The New York Yankees have hit a bit of a rough patch as of late, going 2-8 in their last 10 games, including losses to the Mets in both games of the Subway Series. Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Luis Gil all got hit hard in their most recent starts, Giancarlo Stanton is out for at least a month and Gleyber Torres just got benched by manager Aaron Boone. With all that in mind, the team is still 52-30 and in first place in the AL East, one game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, who lost five straight before beating Cleveland on Wednesday.
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Catch up on those stories and all things Yankees from the past week below, as delivered by our national and beat writers.
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Power rankings: New York Yankees are No. 2
The Yankees moved out of the top of our latest MLB Power Rankings, where this week’s topic was each team’s most defining player.
Record: 52-28 (as of Tuesday morning)
Last Power Ranking: 1
Most Defining Player: RHP Luis Gil
The best team in the American League could be easily defined by one of its two superstar outfielders (Aaron Judge, Juan Soto) or even its homegrown shortstop (Anthony Volpe), but perhaps the greatest Yankees achievement to this point has been separating themselves despite being without Cole for nearly three months. In his place, the Yankees found a different ace in 26-year-old Gil, who has been among the best starters in the American League.
The Yankees have some questions in the bottom half of their lineup and on the right side of their infield — and now they have to make up for injuries to Anthony Rizzo and Stanton — but their rotation has been steady, and now that Cole is back from the IL, the team has two aces instead of one. — Chad Jennings
The latest hits
ICYMI, our national writers weighed in with what they were hearing and seeing.
1. Gerrit Cole’s oddly historic outing is the latest concern for suddenly struggling Yankees
It was a rough start for the reigning AL Cy Young winner in the opener of the Subway Series on Tuesday night. Tyler Kepner was on hand in Queens to detail the proceedings.
So while the Yankees are a long way from Panic City – that’s a Mets thing, anyway — they’re not too comfortable, either. Not after Cole’s oddly historic start in Tuesday’s 9-7 loss at Citi Field.
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Consider that the Yankees have played more than 18,000 games all-time, and this was the first in which a starting pitcher allowed four home runs while issuing four walks and striking out none. It’s happened only three times in Cole’s lifetime: by Milwaukee’s Cal Eldred in 1999, Toronto’s Brandon Lyon in 2002 and Detroit’s Nate Robertson in 2008.
Unlike Cole, who turns 34 in September, those pitchers were not coming off a Cy Young season. But Cole is also coming back from a long shutdown following a spring training elbow scare. In two starts, he’s given up eight runs in eight innings, progressing from 62 pitches last week against Baltimore to 72 versus the Mets, who flattened him for six runs and seven hits.
If this sort of shaky return was inevitable, the Yankees should have given Cole another rehab start or two. They expected the usual Cole, manager Aaron Boone said — kind of.
“He’s Gerrit Cole,” Boone said. “He’s capable and has been in a pretty good spot here the last month or so as he’s built up. No, I don’t think this is inevitable — but he’s not all the way built up out of spring. He is coming back from an injury and being down. The buildup matters.”
2. Why Aaron Judge loves center field
In his latest notes column, Ken Rosenthal wrote about the Yankees slugger’s transition to the position after the team acquired Juan Soto in the offseason.
Mookie Betts prefers playing infield in part because he runs a shorter distance from the dugout to his position than he does to right field. Aaron Judge, in becoming the New York Yankees’ regular center fielder, took on what generally is considered the most demanding spot in the outfield. Yet, just as he did in 2022 while playing more center than right, he is putting together a mind-boggling season.
Judge’s major-league lead in OPS, home runs and RBIs is all the more remarkable considering how much energy he also expends on offense. Only Soto is on base more often. And while Judge needs to only trot on his homers, he also pushes himself running the bases and sliding, all at 6-foot-7, 282 pounds.
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After the Yankees acquired Soto in December, former hitting coach Sean Casey said on his podcast that he hated the idea of Judge playing center, pointing out the increased risk of injury. Judge, however, relishes being in the middle of the diamond, just as he was in college at Fresno State.
“You’ve got a great view (from there),” Judge said. “When they were talking to me about getting (Alex) Verdugo and Soto, (I said) wherever I need to play, whether it’s left field, center field, second, DH, whatever I’ve got to do, I’ll do it so these guys can feel comfortable and come in here and play their game. I love center field.”
3. Reggie Jackson shares stark stories of racism
The Hall of Famer and Yankees legend, who played in Birmingham as a minor leaguer in 1967, spoke about his experience on Fox’s pregame coverage of Major League Baseball’s game at historic Rickwood Field last week. C. Trent Rosecrans has more details.
“I said I would never want to do it again,” said Jackson, whose comments were uncensored. “I walked into restaurants and they would point at me and say, ‘The n—– can’t eat here.’ I would go to a hotel and they’d say, ‘the n—– can’t stay here.’ We went to Charlie Finley’s country club for a welcome home dinner and they pointed me out with the N-word, ‘he can’t come in here.’ Finley marched the whole team out. … Finally, they let me in there and he said, ‘We’re going to go eat hamburgers. We’ll go where we’re wanted.’”
The game was scheduled as a celebration of the Negro Leagues and its players, with special tributes to Willie Mays, the Hall of Famer and former Birmingham Black Barons outfielder who died Tuesday at age 93. But Jackson’s interview was a reminder of what he and so many others dealt with not only at Rickwood, but beyond its fences.
Viral moment of the week
The Captain turns 50 today, but his stamp on @Yankees history is timeless. Join us in wishing @derekjeter a happy birthday! pic.twitter.com/SsDESIR6VC
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) June 26, 2024
RE50PECT.
Baseball beat
Our beat writers Brendan Kuty and Chris Kirschner picked out what you need to know.
1. How Juan Soto’s relationship with Aaron Judge has been pivotal so far
The pair have developed a quick kinship in their first year in the Bronx. But will that be a factor in keeping Soto there beyond this season?
2. Yankees’ Aaron Boone calls out Gleyber Torres, then defends his lack of hustle
The Yankees second baseman’s season has gone sideways, and Tuesday’s game against the Mets was just another example.
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3. Three Yankees takeaways on injury-filled stumble and areas of concern
Giancarlo Stanton is going to miss at least a month with a hamstring issue, the bullpen has been inconsistent lately and production for the team’s corner infielders has been hard to come by. Kuty broke down those concerns as the Yankees faced a week of adversity in an otherwise stellar season so far.
4. Yankees’ Carlos Rodón shows frustration in second straight meltdown: ‘Not good’
For the second straight outing, Rodón got torched, this time for eight runs (seven earned) in 3 2/3 innings in an 8-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves last Friday night at Yankee Stadium. He’ll look to get back on track Thursday night against the Blue Jays.
Did you catch this?
Luis Gil has a striking tattoo on his throat that reads “God Bless Me.” Brendan Kuty talked to the 26-year-old hurler about the origins of the ink and its meaning to him. Here’s an excerpt:
They’re three words, tattooed in capital letters across Gil’s throat, and they’re as loud as the screams he unleashes after a big strikeout.
“GOD BLESS ME.”
For Gil, the New York Yankees’ rookie wunderkind, it’s a public message in a peculiar place and with a personal (and blunt) meaning.
For opposing hitters, it’s the last thing they see before he delivers the ferocious fastballs that have put him on a short list of possible starters for the American League at this year’s All-Star Game.
Gil is 9-2 in 15 starts this season.
The 26-year-old has a 2.77 ERA and a .164 batting average against with 97 strikeouts.
He does it with a heater that averages 96.8 mph, a low-90s changeup and a slider. It’s come after he was the surprise pick to replace injured ace Gerrit Cole in the rotation out of spring training.
“It starts with the fastball,” manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s elite. It’s special. He can lean on it. … To see him hunger to get better and learn from everything that he’s gone through, build a really solid routine — that’s what’s been really satisfying about Luis.”
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And while keeping the Yankees in first place in the AL East has been his chief concern, his Christian faith will remain his main motivator.
The point of the tat is simple.
“It’s just a message for God to protect me,” he said via a translator in Kansas City last week.
He wanted it in a place it would be seen.
“It’s a reminder in asking to be protected,” he said.
(Top photo of Gleyber Torres: Keith Gillett / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)