SMOOTH JAZZ IS BACK AT 3B
Playing Jazz Chisolm at third makes so much sense. His bat profiles as a third basemen more so than any of the other Yankees’ options. Last season, despite having never played third at the MLB level, he manned the hot corner 45 times down the stretch with relatively good results.
WHO? WHAT’S ON SECOND
DJ LeMahieu is healthy and showing signs of life in his bat for the first time since 2022. Plus, he provides a right-handed bat for the predominantly left-handed Bronx Bombers. In a perfect world, the combination of LeMahieu and Oswald Peraza allow the Yankees to not dig into their prospect pool for an infield replacement. It’s a long shot, but by September the Yankees may even be able to give their top prospect, 20-year-old George Lombard, Jr., an opportunity to play 2B.
Of course, if the Yankees had listened to me this winter, they might have had their long-term answer at second for a mere pittance.
South Korean Hyeseong Kim came to North America with a reputation as a great fielder with unfulfilled potential at the plate. Yet, he has 21 hits in his first 52 at bats. Despite my urging, the Yankees declined to pursue him. He signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers (surprise) for a modest 3 years/$12.5m total.
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LUKE WEAVER ON INJURED LIST
“My Favorite Yankee” Luke Weaver pulled his hamstring this past weekend and will be out 4-6 weeks. There’s a case to be made that through 60 games this season, Weaver is the second most valuable New York Yankee next to the Almighty Aaron Judge. Weaver has a win, save or hold in 17 of his 24 games. While at times not having the same dominant stuff as last fall, his craftiness has allowed him to still put up dominant numbers – 1.05 ERA and 0.70 WHIP.
Plus, he provided a safety net for Devin Williams when the Yankees prized off-season acquisition got off to a horrendous start. When Weaver flipped spots with Williams, the entire team, Williams included, seemingly exhaled. More importantly, we didn’t have to hear daily comparisons to Sonny Gray, Jeff Weaver and Ed Whitson.
Williams is now back in the closer role, coming off a shaky, yet successful, appearance on Tuesday, June 3 against the Guardians. If he continues to struggle to find his Milwaukee Brewers form, the noise around him and the team will grow. Either way, we’re back to holding our collective breath in the 9th inning.
COUNTDOWN TO THE TRADE DEADLINE
As mentioned above, the Yankees have currently settled things at second and third. Giancarlo Stanton is coming back shortly to add right-handed power. Plus, they have prospect Everson Pereira who got 103 plate appearances in 2023. The 24-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder is healthy and has a .880 OPS in 35 games in Triple A.
That would put the Yankees in position to use their available assets to add to the rotation and the back of the bullpen. The trade deadline is in 56 days!
