Bronx Bomber Ball

  In the final installment of our preseason positional preview, today let’s take a look at the Yankees forecasted bench for the 2021 season.

As we close in on Opening Day, it’s time to start taking inventory of the non-roster invitees at camp this spring and take some stock in who will and will not be breaking camp with the big-league club on April first.   The first player in our preview series focuses on 13-year veteran OF/1B Jay Bruce.

With Aaron Hicks  undergoing Tommy John surgery in the winter and targeting a July/August return date,  and Giancarlo Stanton  and Aaron Judge’s  status es  for Opening Day unknown,  the Yankees outfield  could see  some changes throughout the  opening weeks of the season  as players try to establish themselves as contributors to the team.   

With Cole-a-palooza officially out of the way , the Yankees can turn their attention on filling out the remainder of their roster this Winter, and the first moves to be made should be taking care of the family business.   Per SNY’s Andy Martino, the Yankees could be closing in on a deal to bring back Brett Gardner soon.

The Yankees took a trip out to the West Coast this week for two three-game sets against the Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Dodgers. The first series in California led to an embarrassing three-game sweep of the Yankees by Oakland. However, the Bombers took the series in LA, winning two out of three against the Dodgers this Players’ Weekend.  Photo via @Yankees on Twitter

The Yankees’ month of August, so far, can be best described as -- you guessed it -- savage.   With 15 wins and just four losses on the month, they are 9.5 games ahead of their division rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays, in first place in the A.L. East.   They’re playing well over .500 are competing with the Astros for the first overall seed in the AL, which would clinch home-field advantage in the postseason.  Who are some of the surprise contributors?   Who still needs to get their heads in the game? Photo Credit: Newsday/Jim McIsaac

This week, the New York Yankees faced off against the Rays and Rockies at Yankee Stadium in the blistering summer heat. After losing the first game to Tampa, the Bombers rebounded and won five out of their next six games. Following Sunday’s game, the Yankees boast an impressive 64-34 record in 2019.  Photo Credit: @yankees via Twitter 

Yankees’ slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who was placed on the 10-day Injured List with a strained PCL yesterday, will be sidelined until at least August, per Brian Cashman in an interview with the media today.   Mike Tauchman was recalled from triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take his spot on the roster ahead of the team's weekend series in London against the Boston Red Sox. Cashman said “it’s going to be a while” for Stanton, and called August “the sweet spot” to get him back playing again. Anything earlier would be a bonus. https://t.co/JtSGPi8yYs — Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) June 27, 2019

Coming into this final game of the three-game set, both teams had won one game with the Yankees winning game one in a one run contest and the Rays winning the second game in blowout fashion. With the Yankees looking to catch up to the Rays in the standings, this game was a crucial one for this rolling Yankees team. Julio Aguilar | Getty Images

On July 29, 2018, the Yankees sent struggling reliever Chasen Shreve, along with Giovanny Gallegos, to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for a little-known first baseman: Luke Voit, a career .240 hitter. You know what happened next. In 64 games as a Yankee to this point, Voit is sitting on a .301/.390/.611 slash with 21 home runs. Fleecing teams has become almost routine for Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman during his 22 seasons at the helm. Nick Swisher for Wilson Betemit in 2008, Didi Gregorius for Shane Greene in 2012, Aaron Hicks for John Ryan Murphy in 2015; the list goes on and on. The next member of the club could be here already and we just don’t know it yet - literally. Photo Credit: New York Post In a last-minute deal before the start of the regular season, the Yankees acquired outfielder Mike Tauchman from the Rockies for minor-league pitcher Philip Diehl. Tauchman had proven to be a modest hitter at Triple-A who hadn’t been able to put it together in the...

It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. James Paxton, who is off to a historic start in his young Yankees career, exited after the sixth with a 5-0 lead thanks in part to another home run from Clint Frazier. Tommy  Kahnle  pitched a scoreless seventh inning, and then Aaron Boone handed the ball to Chad Green for the eighth . Things did not go as planned from that moment on.    Photo courtesy of AP/Adam Hunger

Coming off an impressive two-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees were flat yesterday as they dropped game one of the four-game series versus the lowly Royals. However, the bats woke up today and backed CC Sabathia’s second consecutive start in which he allowed zero earned runs.   Photo Credit: Frank Franklin II | AP

James Paxton pitched a gem in his first start against the Red Sox in pinstripes.  The Big Maple threw eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts against only two hits and one walk.  Six of his strikeouts came in-a-row between the sixth and eighth innings.  His counterpart for the day, however, did not fare as well.  Chris Sale lasted five innings, giving up four runs on seven hits.  The outing actually improved his ERA, as he came into the day with an ERA of 9.00.  After Sale’s first time through the Yankees’ lineup, the Bombers dominated the Red Sox pitching, scoring eight runs on 11 hits. Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images The scoring got started off in the bottom of the third inning.  After a Brett Gardner leadoff double, Austin Romine moved Gardy over to third base with a sac-fly to right.  A Mike Tauchman strikeout brought up DJ LeMahieu who hit a single to the opposite field against the shift to ...

Despite electing to pass on big-ticket free agent Bryce Harper over the Winter, the Yankees will still enter the 2019 season with one of the better all-around outfields in Major League Baseball.   Aaron Hicks’ lingering back issue puts a dent in the outfield depth heading into Opening Day, but assuming he can recover quickly and return to play in April, the Yankees’ boast an outfield trio that provides both strong defense as well as considerable pop.   Add in Giancarlo Stanton who will see time in both right and left fields over the course of the season, and the Yankees are not short on superstar OF talent. Photo Credit: Dick Druckman/Gold Medal Impressions