Yankees – Page 144 – Keefe To The City

Apr 23, 2019

Clint Frazier Is My Kind Of Player

The Yankees’ outfielder sprained his ankle, but remained in the game to score a run, and has already said he’s playing no matter what. Clint Frazier is a breath of fresh air on this Yankees team.

There were times I thought Clint Frazier would never be a Yankee. Then there were times when I thought he would never be a regular everyday player and part of the Yankees’ future. I have to think a lot of Yankees fans felt the same. A combination of Frazier being blocked positionally, frequent injuries and trade speculation made me think I would watch him realize his potential and become an All-Star-caliber player with another franchise.

The never-ending injury bug, which has destroyed the Yankees’ expected lineup, has forced Frazier into a starting role in the outfield and a middle-of-the-order spot in the order. Not only has Frazier responded to this opportunity by finally proving his status as the focal point of the Andrew Miller deal and that he belongs in the majors, he’s proved he belongs in the Yankees’ plans. He doesn’t belong as the headline for some package to acquire a rental starter at the trade deadline or a pitcher with a couple years of control. He belongs in the Yankees outfield.

In 18 games, Frazier has displayed the “legendary bat speed” Brian Cashman raves about. He has a team-leading six home runs and is batting .324/.342/.632. His .975 OPS in 73 plate appearances is even more impressive when you consider he missed virtually all of 2018 and desperately needed more at-bats and time to develop defensively in Triple-A. “He’s not a finished product,” Brian Cashman said on Monday to Mike Francesa. “He never got finished off because he missed an entire developmental year, so his experience at Triple-A is not extensive.” He’s still technically getting his reps in with the RailRiders since the Yankees are essentially them right now, they are just coming in major league games with the RailRiders.

Frazier recently mentioned his confidence is at “an all-time high” right now, and it should be. He has reiterated the “next guy up” slogan the Yankees are using to battle through the absence of Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andujar and Troy Tulowitzki on the position player side and Luis Severino and Dellin Betances from the pitching staff. Frazier asked, “Which guy’s going to be the hero tonight? Who’s going to be the one that steps up?” Most nights this season, it’s been him.

On Monday night (early Tuesday morning on the East Coast), Frazier slid awkwardly into second base on a pickoff attempt, rolling his ankle. I was in disbelief, but managed to hold in my anger and frustration to avoid waking up my fiancee and the neighbors, who had been sleeping for hours like normal people who don’t sacrifice their sleep and well-being to watch a baseball team. Was another Yankee really injured? Frazier grabbed his ankle and then hopped around near the base as Aaron Boone and Steve Donahue ran out of the dugout. Frazier was able to persuade Boone and Donahue to let him remain in the game, and after his ankle was tightly wrapped, he stayed in for the final innings, playing left field in for the 12th, 13th and 14th innings. After the game, Frazier said the injury wouldn’t keep him out of the lineup.

“It’s a little sprain, but it’s one of those things where I went through too much last year to not go out there and play. The IL is too full for us, so I’m good. I’m going to keep playing.”

I’m sure those comments frightened Boone, who is most likely going to give Frazier the day off on Tuesday. He was probably going to get the day off already as part of the Yankees’ scheduled off day initiative, which only helps to make more of a mockery out of their injury crisis. But no matter if the overcautious organization holds one of their few true bats out of the lineup for the second game of this nine-game road trip, those are the words you want to hear from your player.

“I kept telling myself, ‘Everything you got.’ Last year, that’s a real injury. [Tonight] I could still go out there, I could still walk, I could still contribute to this team.”

Could you ever envision Aaron Hicks saying something like that?

“I went through too much last year to not continue to stay out on that field. So a lot of things would have to go wrong for me to not play out there.”

All of this made me want to hug Frazier or possibly dye my hair red and get a nose ring like number 77. His words and determination to not miss time serve as a breath of fresh air for a team with the most players on the injured list in the majors, an injured list with players who frequently miss their return dates by weeks and sometimes months.

Frazier knows what it’s like to suffer a serious and significant injury for which there is no timetable for a return to the playing field or a normal livelihood. Thankfully, he was able to return to both. A sprained ankle? That’s not going to keep him out of the lineup if he gets his way. With the way he’s been living up to his first-round potential this season, Yankees fans need him to get his way.

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My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Blogs • Monday Mail • Yankees

Apr 22, 2019

Monday Mail: April 22, 2019

The Aaron Hicks injury situation, Aaron Boone’s press conferences, Yankees-Red Sox trash talk and J.A. Happ’s struggles in this week’s Monday Mail.

A week ago, the Yankees had just lost two of three to the White Sox after getting swept by the Astros and the Red Sox were coming to town. Now the Yankees are winners of five of six, back over .500 at 11-10 and headed to the West Coast for 10 days. Not everything is rainbows, sunshine and butterflies though. Aaron Judge is the latest Yankee to go on the injured list and the lineup the Yankees are using every night is essentially a Triple-A lineup.

This week’s questions and comments revolve around those injuries as well as the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry and what’s going on with J.A. Happ.

Email your questions to KeefeToTheCity@gmail.com or engage on the Keefe To The City Facebook page or on Twitter to be included in the next Monday Mail.

Remember when Aaron Hicks was only going to be out for the weekend during spring training? – Marc

So looking forward to the next seven years of the glass man. – Andy

Jacoby Hicks – Rich

That extension doesn’t look super great. – Mike

When Aaron Hicks first got hurt in spring training, it was reported he would miss a few days as a precaution and that it wasn’t anything serious. Then it was reported he might not be ready for Opening Day. Then it was reported he would be ready for the first game of the second series of the season on April 1 against the Tigers. It’s now April 22 and Hicks isn’t back despite him saying this past week that he’s been 100 percent for a few weeks. How is a player at 100 percent and not close to coming back? Then again, we’re talking about an organization which claims they weren’t aware of their 25-year-old ace’s lat injury at the same time as his shoulder inflammation. The same ace who started warming up five minutes before Game 3 of the 2018 ALDS.

Prior to the season, I set the over/under on games played in 2019 for Hicks at 145, which would allow him to miss 17 games. He has already missed 21 games and according to Brian Cashman on WFAN on Monday, he’s not close to returning. We all knew Hicks was injury prone before he received a seven-year, $70 million extension, but this is really out of control.

You hope to God that what he’s saying to the media is 180 degrees from what he’s telling the team. They look uninspired, unfocused and are making rookie mistakes on the bases, field and at-bat. – Greg

This was in response to Aaron Boone’s postgame press conference last week following another loss to the lowly White Sox. Boone said, “I really do think we’re in a sound place as far as our focus, our energy, our expectation when we walk through those doors.”

The Yankees were 6-9 at the time Boone said that, having just lost two of the three to the White Sox to fall to 3-6 at home to teams expected to finish in last place.

Since the series loss to the White Sox, the Yankees took both games against the Red Sox and three of four from the Royals to finish their homestand at 6-3 and climb back over .500 to 11-10. Winning cures everything, and for now, Boone can say whatever he wants because his Triple-A lineup is getting the job done. Let’s see what happens with a now Aaron Judge-less team going across the country to play the Angels, Giants and Diamondbacks.

Trust me I’m a Yankee fan and I’m happy when we win but talking smack about the Red Sox should be few and far between because they have won four world championships in the last 15 years and they eliminated us last year. Let’s get real Yankee fans. Let’s just be grateful and not talk smack . That’s a good team and organization. They rival us but they’re just as good as we are. – Nick

I won’t be saying anything about the Red Sox until the Yankees win a championship. The Yankees haven’t reached the World Series in what will be a decade this fall, let alone win the World Series, and since their last championship, their seasons have ended the following way:

Lost 4-2 in ALCS to Rangers
Lost 3-2 in ALDS to Tigers
Lost 4-0 in ALCS to Tigers
Missed playoffs
Missed playoffs
Lost AL Wild-Card Game to Astros
Missed playoffs
Lost 4-3 in ALCS to Astros
Lost 3-1 in ALDS to Red Sox

The Red Sox might have several last-place finishes and missed postseasons in that same time span, however, they also have two World Series and one playoff rout of the Yankees to their name.

I enjoyed Boston’s 6-13 start as much as anyone, and it was good to see essentially a Yankees Triple-A pull off a two-game sweep of the Red Sox last week in New York, but we’re a long, long way as a fan base from being able to trash talk and criticize the Red Sox.

As long as the Yankees can tread water until their healthy everything will fall into place and will be in the playoffs, Boston’s on an extended World Series hangover and will come around but I hope not, right now the Yanks need to string together some series wins and get above .500, Tampa Bay doesn’t seem to lose and the Yanks can’t win there but I hope that changes this year. – Mark

Tampa finally started losing at the same time the Yankees started winning. The Yankees were able to pick up three games on the Rays over the weekend, and miraculously, they are now only 2 1/2 games back in the AL East. (I’m still more worried about the Rays than the Red Sox this season.)

The Yankees are missing their starting catcher, shortstop (and the backup shortstop), third baseman, left fielder/designated hitter, center fielder, right fielder, best starting pitcher and best relief pitcher. It’s actually unbelievable they are 11-10, having won five of their last six games. The lineup they are putting together would be a bad spring training lineup and they are being forced to use it in real games. Luke Voit batting second? Brett Gardner in the 3-hole? Mike Tauchman hitting fifth? A combination of Mike Ford, Kyle Higashioka, Austin Romine and Tyler Wade at the bottom of the order?

The Yankees are going to face an enormous test over the next 10 days with this nine-game West Coast road trip, featuring a lineup with two players (Voit and Gleyber Torres) who were supposed to be everyday players in 2019. The goal right now is to tread water and still be within striking distance when the regulars get back.

The problem now is no one really knows when any of the regulars will be back outside of Gary Sanchez, who is due back this week. The Yankees have botched so many consecutive injury timetables that now they are refusing to say when anyone will come back. Something needs to be done about this debacle internally since this is now the second straight season of players returning long after they were expected to.

Move Happ to the pen. – Mike

J.A. Happ has made four starts since Game 1 of the ALDS — a game he lost three batters in — and they have all gone poorly. His best start of the season was his last start against the Red Sox, in which he allowed three earned runs and two home runs in 6 1/3 innings, getting past 4 1/3 innings for the first time this season.

Happ’s line for the season? 18.2 IP, 25 H, 15 R, 15 ER, 6 BB, 17 K, 6 HR, 7.23 ERA, 1.660 WHIP. (I feel dirty after typing that.)

After the Yankees let Patrick Corbin sign with the Nationals, it was obvious Happ would be returning to the Yankees. He pitched well for them in the second half last year before laying an egg in the playoffs against the team they for him to match up against, and as part of the second tier of available starters (the bargain bin), his asking price was perfectly in line with Hal Steinbrenner’s penny-pinching ways. Unfortunately, you get what you pay for, and the Yankees have a 36-year-old left-hander who relies on his fastball, and they have him for the next three seasons.

I’m sure the Yankees would sign up for three earned runs over 6 1/3 innings (4.27 ERA) from Happ every start, since when healthy, the offense should win in that situation most times. But right now, the offense is a flat-out disaster, and the Yankees need Happ to be better, much better, than he has been.

Happ will pitch the first game of the nine-game road trip on Monday, and the Yankees can’t afford to kick off this West Coast swing with Happ going four innings and destroying the bullpen.

Want to be included in the next Monday Mail? Email your questions to KeefeToTheCity@gmail.com or engage on the Keefe To The City Facebook page or on Twitter.

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My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Blogs • KTTC Classics • Yankees

Apr 19, 2019

Yankees Fans Should Be Worried About the Rays This Season, Not the Red Sox

Yankees fans shouldn’t root for the Red Sox to beat the Rays yet, but eventually we will. The Rays are the team to worry in 2019.

I wasn’t upset when the Yankees lost on Thursday night, destroying the momentum they built with a two-game sweep of the Red Sox and falling to 3-7 at home against the Orioles, Tigers, White Sox and Royals. As I wrote on Thursday, I have tempered my expectations when it comes to these Yankees, and it’s hard to expect much, let alone winning streaks, until some combination of Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andujar and Didi Gregorius return to the lineup.

Thankfully, the Orioles were able to beat the Rays in extra innings and being swept by Tampa Bay to keep the Yankees at 5 1/2 games back in the division. I don’t expect the Yankees to go on any sort of extended run while they continue to bat four Triple-A to major-league-backup-at-best players in their lineup each day. The most important thing they can do right now is avoid being buried in the division race before their real everyday players return.

I don’t know what to expect from the Yankees for the rest of this four-game series against the Royals. I would like to think even these Yankees could easily handle this Royals team, but it’s hard to know which Yankees will show up on a given night? Will it be the Yankees who can’t hit Homer Bailey or Ivan Nova or will it be the Yankees who had a lead against Justin Verlander, beat Chris Sale and ruined Ryan Brasier?

The Yankees are now 8-10, but if I were to pick a time for these Yankees to play with some consistency and “turn Aaron Boone’s corner” for even three games, it would be this weekend. Because while the Yankees are hosting a very, vey bad Royals team, at the same time down in Tampa, the Rays are playing the Red Sox. There is potential for ground to be made up on the Rays or further separation from the Red Sox to occur in the standings with a winning weekend from the Yankees.

The question for Yankees fans is who to root for in Tampa? The answer is just no sweep. If the Yankees can win three straight, and there isn’t a sweep in Tampa, they will gain ground on Tampa and continue to create separation from Boston. No sweep, short starts and a lot of outs needed from both bullpens to poorly set them up for after this series. That would be the ideal weekend.

Eventually, we are going to need other teams to beat the Rays. The Red Sox? They’ll beat themselves. The Rays are the team I’m worried about in the division this season, not the Red Sox. If the Yankees are to end their division-winning drought and avoid the wild-card game for the fourth time in five years, they are going to have to beat the Rays to do so.

The Red Sox aren’t the Yankees’ biggest threat in 2019. They are who I believed them to be in 2018 before they put together an improbable season, winning 108 games and easily handling the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers in the postseason. The Red Sox have a built-in excuse for this season after winning the World Series last year and they are playing like it. There’s no 17-2 start, no weekly magical six-run, ninth-inning comebacks and there’s running away and hiding with the division.

Chris Sale, the most dominant pitcher against the Yankees other than Cliff Lee (at least to me), has to be hurt; David Price is his usual inconsistent self; Rick Porcello, the worst Cy Young winner in history, is once again pitching like the guy the Tigers gave up on; Nathan Eovaldi has reverted back to the Nathan Eovaldi who is on his fifth team despite being 29 years old and able to throw 101 mph; Eduardo Rodriguez continues to prove the Red Sox should have gotten more than they did for Andrew Miller.

J.D. Martinez still scares me, Xander Bogaerts is solid and Rafael Devers is very good for 22; Mookie Betts, for as great as he is, is no longer playing like Mike Trout; Steve Pearce is a few big games against the Yankees and a good week against the Dodgers from being out of baseball and hopefully sentimentality will continue to waste a roster spot and at-bats for the Red Sox; Eduardo Nunez sucks; Andrew Benintendi is hurt; Mitch Moreland isn’t an everyday player; Christian Vazquez only hits at Yankee Stadium and Sandy Leon wasn’t good enough to be on the Opening Day roster.

The 2018 Red Sox bullpen featured the second-best closer in history, but the bridge to him was so untrustworthy the starting rotation became the bullpen in the postseason. The Red Sox returned to the same bullpen this season minus its only valuable piece.

It’s no surprise the Red Sox aren’t any good. They just lost to a Yankees team missing their starting catcher, left fielder/designated hitter, center fielder, shortstop, third baseman, ace and best reliever. They certainly aren’t .316 winning percentage bad, but they aren’t 108-win good either. It took every below-average- and average player playing well, every good player playing great and every great player playing at an MVP level for their 2018 season to happen and they all did in what was one ridiculously improbable parlay that couldn’t be stopped. Screw the 1967 Red Sox. The 2018 Red Sox were the Impossible Dream.

The Rays won 90 games last year and didn’t need anything extraordinary to post that win total. They revolutionized the way a starter is used and a bullpen is managed with their “opener” strategy. They added Charlie Morton and have Tyler Glasnow for a full season to go along with the reigning Cy Young winner in Blake Snell and a pair of openers in Ryne Stanek and Yanni Chirinos, who have the ability to dominate for two-plus innings. Their lineup lacks any household name and it would take a miracle for the Rays to be represented in the All-Star Game by a position player. Their offense consists of .240 and .250 hitters up and down the order, who seemingly only gets hits with runners in scoring position and only hit home runs when there are men on. Their offense is centered around situational hitting and creating runs, not launch angles and exit velocity. The Rays are built on the postseason success blueprint of pitching and timely hitting, and everyone expects one of the two to fall off at some point, but they didn’t last year, and they haven’t this year. This isn’t just a 19-game sample size for the 14-5 Rays. This is now a 181-game sample size, and the Rays are 104-77 since the start of 2018.

I will be rooting for the Yankees to win all three from the Royals this weekend and for no sweep in Tampa. For now, Yankees fans don’t have to root for the Red Sox, but eventually we will.

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My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Blogs • KTTC Classics • Yankees

Apr 18, 2019

These Yankees Have Different Expectations

These Yankees are confusing. Not the 2019 Yankees, but the replacement players filling in for the 2019 Yankees.

For the second straight game, I didn’t have to look back and wish the game had been postponed due to inclement April weather, rescheduled for later in the season when Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andujar, Didi Gregorius, Luis Severino or Dellin Betances might be back. Tuesday and Wednesday’s wins over the Red Sox felt like I was watching the Yankees.

Aaron Boone didn’t have to spend his postgame press conference trying to find the positive in yet another loss. He didn’t have to give some bullshit cliche about how he feels his team is close to getting in a groove and that their focus and energy are in the right place. He didn’t refer to “the corner” he has frequently mentioned his team “turning” at some point.

I didn’t think the Yankees’ first home series win would come in their fourth home series — a two-game set — against the Red Sox after having dropped two of three to the Orioles, Tigers and White Sox. I didn’t think they would find a way to beat Chris Sale, given his career against the Yankees, and win a game started by J.A. Happ, given what he has done since Game 1 of the ALDS. I didn’t think Mike Tauchman was capable of hitting a ball as far as he did on Tuesday night and I didn’t think Brett Gardner had the ability to turn around a 97 mph fastball on 0-2 for a grand slam on Wednesday night.

These Yankees are confusing. Not the 2019 Yankees, but the team filling in for the 2019 Yankees. There are nights when they look listless at the plate, leaving you to wonder if they will ever get a hit with runners in scoring position, and lost in the field, appearing as though the beverages in the dugout are being kept in brown paper bags. Then there are nights when you forget they are missing their starting catcher, left fielder/designated hitter, third baseman, shortstop, center fielder, ace and best reliever because they play as if they aren’t missing anyone.

I have tempered my expectations for the time being with the current roster. I accept Gardner is going to bat leadoff until Hicks is back. I realize some combination of Austin Romine, Kyle Higashioka, Mike Tauchman, Gio Urshela, Tyler Wade and now Mike Ford are going to be in the lineup every night. I recognize there isn’t a guaranteed win every five days the way there is when Severino is in the rotation. I understand close games are going to feel even closer with Betances unavailable in the bullpen. I have come to accept these Yankees aren’t good enough to fulfill the preseason requirement of ending the soon-to-be-decade-long World Series drought. For now, I have adjusted my nightly expectations to grinding out wins in an attempt to stay afloat and within striking distance until the All-Star injured list returns.

Maybe these Yankees have “turned the corner” in that they won’t look completely overmatched at the plate and make careless mistakes on the basepaths and on defense. It’s quite possible the rotation will contribute more than four to five innings per night moving forward and the bullpen will serve as the trustworthy strength everyone anticipated it would be. But the corner won’t really be turned for good until the Yankees, the real Yankees return.

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My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!

Blogs • Yankees

Apr 17, 2019

That’s the James Paxton the Yankees Traded For

I didn’t know what to expect from James Paxton on Tuesday night. After Paxton had trouble against the Orioles and got roughed up by the Astros, expectations weren’t high.

I didn’t know what to expect from James Paxton on Tuesday night. I didn’t expect much. After Paxton couldn’t hold a lead in his Yankees debut against the Orioles, put 10 runners on in 5 1/3 innings against the same Orioles five days later and then had 11 baserunners in four innings in a loss to the Astros, expectations weren’t high.

Before his introduction into the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, Paxton had been unable to give the Yankees six innings in any of his first three starts. His line for those three starts: 15 IP, 20 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 6 BB, 19 K, 3 HR, 6.00 ERA, 1.733 WHIP.

Last year at the trade deadline, I called James Paxton “blah” and in the same category as Chris Archer and Michael Fulmer, pitchers who I didn’t think were worth trading for since they wouldn’t really make the Yankees that much better and certainly worth giving up high-end prospects for. It was hard to find anyone who shared my perspective. His raw stuff wasn’t the reason I referred to him as “blah”, it was his combination of injuries and inconsistency. When Paxton was on, he was among the best pitchers in the world, but he was rarely on in consecutive starts or for any reasonable stretch of time.

My biggest problem with the Yankees acquiring Paxton was the fact he has never pitched more than 160 1/3 innings in a single season and is good for at least one injured list trip per season. I wasn’t necessarily worried about his overall performance since I knew he would dominate at times and also lay some eggs at times. I was worried about his health. But after his performance against the lowly Orioles, and then the Astros — a team he owned last season, going 4-0 in four starts and allowing six earned runs in 26 1/3 innings (2.05 ERA) — I now had to worry about his performance.

I was worried entering Paxton’s start on Tuesday night. I could see Chris Sale doing his usual thing against the Yankees, diminished velocity and all, and Paxton laboring through another five innings in an eventual loss to finally kickstart the Red Sox season and send them on an extended winning streak.

Paxton began the game by striking out Mookie Betts and getting Xander Boegarts and J.D. Martinez to line out. In the second, he struck out the side, all swinging, setting down Steve Pearce, Mitch Moreland and Eduardo Nunez in order.

Paxton failed to record a strikeout in the third, but it was yet another 1-2-3 inning with a pair of groundouts and soft liner to second.

The Yankees gave Paxton a 2-0 lead with some two-out magic — something I didn’t think the Yankees were capable of — in the bottom of the third. Right away, it looked like Paxton was going to give it back.

A six-pitch walk to Mookie Betts to begin the fourth was followed by a Bogaerts double off the top of the wall, which was unsuccessfully reviewed for a home run. Second and third and no outs and the Red Sox’ scariest hitter in Martinez due up with Pearce, who is apparently on a mission to single-handedly beat the Yankees every game he plays agains them, on deck.

Martinez flew out on an 0-1 pitch and the threat of Aaron Judge’s arm held the runners. Pearce lined out to Judge on an 0-2 pitch, and once again the runners held. The inning ended with Paxton striking out Moreland swinging, resulting in an emotional release from the Yankees’ left-handed as he walked off the mound. It was unknown at the time, but that would be the last time the Red Sox’ would threaten for the rest of the game.

Paxton pitched around a one-out hit-by-pitch in the fifth and put up another 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, striking out Martinez to end the frame. After the Martinez strikeout, Paxton would strike out Pearce then Moreland then Nunez then Devers then Leon. It wasn’t until a meaningless Jackie Bradley Jr. double in the eighth that Paxton’s six-batter strikeout streak would end.

The last pitch Paxton threw — his 110th of the game — resulted in a weak fly ball off the bat of Betts to right field. Paxton’s final line: 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K.

I expected big things out of Big Maple upon his arrival in the Bronx. I can’t say I ever envisioned that kind of performance against the Red Sox.

After the game, Paxton, who prior to the season talked about accepting and welcoming the pressure that comes with playing for the Yankees, said something which made me smile regarding the Yankees for the first time since Opening Day and really made me smile for the first time regarding the Yankees since Aaron Judge’s first-inning home run in the wild-card game.

“We want to beat Boston every time.”

I certainly don’t have to worry about Paxton’s mindset, and after Tuesday’s start, I don’t have to worry about his performance, knowing he has that level of dominance in him.

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My book The Next Yankees Era: My Transition from the Core Four to the Baby Bombers is now available as an ebook!