Bronx Bomber Ball

  Good riddance to the Cuban Missile.   After not showing up for a mandatory team workout last week, the Yankees have announced that Aroldis Chapman will not be on the ALDS roster and, in all likelihood, will never suit up for the team again.   This strange ending to an otherwise fairly successful saga is the cherry on top of a truly terrible year for Chapman, one which saw him struggle through multiple IL stints as well as general ineffectiveness.   He won’t be missed. Photo Credit: Frank Franklin Ii/Associated Press

Photo credit: @Yankees on Twitter

  Photo credit: MLB.com

Happy July! As the season nears its halfway point, the Yankees have exceeded even the highest of expectations at 56-21 and I for one am having fun. The Bombers were baseball’s best team in the month of June, cruising through just about everyone in their path en route to a 22-6 record. Even after a head-to-head loss last night, they stand seven games above the Houston Astros for the American League’s best record. Photo Credit: Peter Aiken, USA TODAY Sports Rolling into Cleveland to meet the Guardians for a weekend set, they’ll be joined by none other than Aroldis Chapman, who’s been sidelined with left Achilles tendonitis since May 24. Oh, how we missed him. When asked about the team’s plan for the ninth inning moving forward, Aaron Boone reiterated that Chapman is the closer. Clay Holmes will become the “fireman” – entering as necessary in the highest leverage spots against the toughest parts of the lineup.  Photo Credit: Getty Images It’s hard to find words to describe how good Ho...

  Something special is happening in the Bronx this summer.   I know, I know, it’s only June 17.   We’re only 63 games into a 162-game marathon season. I know I’m not the guy you expected to hear any optimism out of.   But here we are, just under 39% of the way into a season I was sure was destined for a fourth-place finish, with the Yankees holders of the best record in Major League Baseball and the third-best 63 game start in franchise history. Photo Credit: Getty Images Yes, this team. The team that routinely rolls out lineups laden with the likes of Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Kyle Higashioka. The team that is currently down it’s top-four bullpen weapons from last season (Aroldis Chapman on the IL recovering from achilles tendonitis, Jonathan Loaisiga out with shoulder inflammation, Chad Green out for the year after undergoing Tommy John Surgery, Zack Britton on the mend from 2021 Tommy John Surgery).   But what’s special about thi...

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Photo credit: Washington Post

  Just ten short days ago, this team looked on death’s door, dropping back-to-back games to the Cleveland Indians at home by a combined score of 22-4.   They had fallen out of a wild card spot by 1.5 games, and trailed Boston for the top spot by 2.5 games.   All of the good vibes and positivity accrued during their 13-game winning streak from August 14-27 was seemingly out the window.   They appeared headed for an early end to their season – one that began with lofty expectations of a World Series title.

  The Yankees have been the hottest team in baseball for a decent while now, extending their winning streak to 12 late last night in Oakland. The hitting has become more consistent with clutch at-bats taking place now that were missing earlier in the year. The starting pitching has been perhaps the biggest surprise, pitching as well as any other staff across the league, and that’s without Luis Severino and Corey Kluber.

Well, what a difference a month makes. On the fourth of July the Yanks were a .500 baseball team, while the Red Sox had the best record in the A.L. Fast forward to now and the Yanks are a full game ahead of the Red Sox after completing a three-game sweep of their arch rivals in the Bronx. As usual, none of the three wins were easy and all three games seemed to be heading off the rails at one point or another. However, a win is a win and the Yanks just keep getting it done, improving their record to 23-9 since the All-Star break.

  After another crushing defeat in the Field of Dreams game last night, the Yankees and White Sox are off on Friday as they travel to Chicago to complete their three-game series.   Let’s use the off-day as an opportunity to check-in on the Yankees’ laundry list of injured and COVID-afflicted players.

In an otherwise bleak season for the 2021 New York Yankees, one bright spot in the bullpen comes in middle relief: Jonathan Loaisiga. 

  The question on everyone’s mind as we head into this week is: Are the Yankees back? 

  The Yankees wrapped up their nine-game homestand this weekend taking two of three from the Washington Nationals, finishing the homestand 7-2 overall.   Both of the Yankees’ wins came in walk-off fashion, following an ugly loss on Friday night in the series’ first game.  The Yankees will hit the road at 18-16, in second place in the AL East, 3.5 games back of Boston.

  In an exciting weekday series in the Bronx, Giancarlo Stanton led the Bombers to taking two out of three from the Astros. The series ended on somewhat of a sour note, as the Yankees definitely could have completed the sweep, but I’m not going to harp on the team’s first loss in a week. Chad Green had a pretty rough outing, which isn’t going to happen often. It just sucks that it was the short man Altuve who took him deep after the sh*t he got from fans all week. Before that homer, Altuve was 2-12 on the series, and heard enough “F*ck Altuve” chants from fans to make Manager Dusty Baker cry to the media about it. Fans even chanted “F*ck your birthday” yesterday for the Houston Second Baseman’s 31 st  birthday. I got to go to the game Wednesday night and it was incredible getting to go to the stadium and be a part of that for the only time Houston comes to the Bronx this season (unless they meet in the postseason).   Anyway, what hurts more than the loss itself, is the in...

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It’s obvious that pitching has been an issue for the Yankees over the past few years. It’s early, but through Spring Training, this year seems a little bit different. Starting from the top, you’ve got the ace, Gerrit Cole. The 300 million dollar man. He’s going to be leaned on a lot all year. Expect big things from him every five days on the mound. He is the leader of this staff. So far this spring, through 12 innings, he’s 3-0 with a 3.55 ERA and adds in 19 strikeouts. These are numbers we’re looking for, and we can only expect more during the regular season.

Chad Green has been the Yankees’ best reliever in 2020, and it’s quite possible he has been the best late-inning option in the entire sport. The 29-year-old righty enters play on August 14th with a 0.82 ERA, 0.36 WHIP and 12.27 K/9. Green’s struggles early last season were well-documented, and he never entirely put them behind him in 2019. 18 games into this shortened season and that feels like ancient history. Photo Credit: Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post

Can you believe we’ve finally made it?   Despite all the animosity and ugliness surrounding the labor negotiations the past few months, the Major League Baseball Players association and MLB owners finally came to terms on the provisions to allow for a 60-game regular season in 2020 in the face of this global COVID-19 pandemic.   The 2020 season will be unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, with a shortened season, new rules, no fans in attendance, and a unique schedule that has teams only play other clubs in their geographic area.   But the important thing is we’re finally going to get real, meaningful baseball back in our lives this week, and I for one could not be happier. Photo Credit: Major League Baseball via Twitter

According to ESPN’s Jeff  Passan , Aroldis Chapman has reworked his contract with the Yankees, adding an extra year at $18 million to the two years, $30 million he already had, keeping him in New York until 2022.    https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1190851498122653696   Photo Credit: Getty Images Chapman had an excellent 2019, posting 37 saves with a 2.21 ERA, good enough to win him AL Reliever of the Year honors.  This deal keeps together a Yankees bullpen that is among the very best in the major leagues, and ensures Zack Britton, Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle and others will not deviate largely from their 2019 roles.  Article by: Gus Wetekamp Follow @gus_wetekamp_23 Follow @bronxbomberball