Bronx Bomber Ball

Photo credit: NJ.com

  The Yankees remained hot against the second-best team in the AL East this week, extending their winning streak to 11 before dropping the final game of the series last night. Coming into the off day, the Yankees are tied for the most wins in the MLB with the Mets and hold the best record in the league courtesy of the Mets’ two extra losses. Photo Credit: AP Photo

  On Tuesday evening, the New York Yankees agreed to terms with all but one of their arbitration eligible players, the one being star right-fielder Aaron Judge who is seeking a long-term extension with the club.   The Yankees have not gone to an arbitration hearing with any of their players since the 2017 debacle with Dellin Betances.   Aaron Judge has requested a salary of $21 million for the 2022 season and the Yankees have countered with an offer of $17 million.   If the two sides cannot settle in the middle or reach that extension, they’ll head for a hearing, which due to the delays brought on by the lockout, will likely occur in-season.

  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.

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.

  The Yankees finally wrapped up their home series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday night, evening the season series at two games apiece with a 2-1 victory.   The Yankees continued to struggle at the plate on Monday night, but a two-run first inning home run off the bat of Joey Gallo was all the offense required in this one.

  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...

The New York Yankees opened up their 2021 campaign this weekend in unsatisfactory fashion, dropping two of three games at home to the rival Toronto Blue Jays.   The New York offense was held to just eight runs over the three games and only Gary Sanchez was able to put the ball into the seats over the three games.   The big story in this series was the total ineptitude of the Yankees’ offense, particularly in the clutch.

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

Coming off a brutal road trip that saw them drop five of seven games to the Phillies and Rays in addition to the loss of Giancarlo Stanton to a hamstring strain, the Yankees needed a change of momentum fast as they returned home to the Bronx this week and got just that by taking both games in a quick two-game set against the Atlanta Braves. Photo Credit: Kathy Willens/AP Photo

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

On Friday afternoon, the New York Yankees agreed to terms with all nine of their arbitration eligible players on one-year contracts for the 2020 season.  This marks the third season in a row the Yankees will have avoided going to arbitration hearings with any of their players.  The team was set to go to a hearing with RHP Luis Severino last winter, but instead agreed to a four-year, $40 million contract before the hearing date.   Photo Credit: Abbie Parr/Getty Images

October is here and 11 wins and 297 outs separate the New York Yankees from their 28th World Series title. To get there, Aaron Boone will have to get creative with his pitching staff. Gone are the days of counting on a starter to go more than five innings in a postseason start, and the Yanks just won 103 games despite having a starting rotation that was, at times, shoddy. In last year’s postseason, New York got 27 innings out of the bullpen and just 17 frames from their starters. Ideally, it will be more of a 50/50 split this season, but the team only has three true starters heading into October due to injuries, ineffectiveness and a suspension. Photo Credit: Elsa/Getty Images

The Yankees kicked off a historic week by taking three games from the Blue Jays. The Yankees tied the consecutive game home run record with a home run off the bat of Aaron Hicks in game one of the three-game. This game was initially a blowout, but Jonathan Holder’s implosion in the eighth resulted in the game becoming much closer than it should have. The Yankees were able to hold on.   Photo Credit: NY Post

It’s the weekend that baseball fans from across the pond have been waiting for all season. Major League Baseball’s inaugural London Series, between arguably the league’s two most storied franchises, takes place this Saturday and Sunday. These two rivals have played each other five times so far this season, with the Yankees taking home four of those wins. Coming into the series, the Yanks are a season-high 10 games ahead of the Red Sox in the loss column. The Yankees come in at a season-best 52-28 (winners of nine out of 10), while Boston enters plays with a 44-38 record after winning six of their last 10 games.

The Yankees are rolling, having won eight of their last nine games as they welcome the Toronto Blue Jays to the Bronx for a quick three-game series. The Yanks are 1-2 so far against the Jays, having last played them in early June. It’s worth noting, however, that this is a very different Yankees team than the one that started out this month.    Toronto comes in struggling, as they come in at 8-13 in the month of June and are currently a whopping 20.5 games back of first place in the American League East. However, they did just take two out of three from the Boston Red Sox, which gives them a bit of momentum heading into this series. They are a slightly better team on the road than at home, with a .385 winning percentage in away games as compared to .342 at the Rogers Centre. Hitting has been an issue for Toronto, as they are well below league average in most major hitting categories and dead-last in team batting average. Pitching has also not been a strong suit, as they...

On the eve of Aaron Judge’s return to the lineup, the Yankees began an important four game set with the Houston Astros. While the Yankees have certainly been missing Judge, they have gotten healthy in other areas and rolled out a fearsome lineup to face their fellow contender on Thursday night. The Yankees opted to use this game as a bullpen day and the group turned in an effort that was good enough to bring home a win after their offense took over. Despite giving up some runs late, the Yankees brought home a 10-6 win and will now have Aaron Judge back in the fold on Friday. Credit:Adam Hunger/AP Photo

Coming into the season, the Yankees’ bullpen was expected to be one of the best relief groups ever assembled. For the most part, that has been true. Their top four options (Chapman, Ottavino, Britton and Kahnle) have all been elite. However, there are two underachievers that Brian Cashman and co. need to address quickly: Luis Cessa and Jonathan Holder. With Aaron Judge’s impending return, and a true roster crunch on New York’s hands, the Yankees’ management team should look to remove one of these two from their roster rather than the red-hot Cameron Maybin. Photo Credit: Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Coming into the night on a three-game losing streak, and after dropping eight of their last 11 contests, this game was one the Yankees needed. Fortunately for them, the bats came to life, and the pitching was solid, as New York downed the White Sox, 8-4. The win, coupled with Tampa’s loss, allowed the Yanks to regain their half-game lead in the American League East despite their recent struggles. Photo Credit: Nam Y. Huh/AP Photo

The New York Yankees looked to avoid getting swept in Cleveland in Sunday afternoon’s bout with the Indians.  The Yanks went with the opener today and sent Chad Green to the mound to face off against Cleveland’s Shane Bieber.  It took almost 4 hours and 10 innings to get it done, but the Yankees left Cleveland with a 7-6 win over the Indians. Photo Credit: David Dermer | AP