Bronx Bomber Ball

In another surprising move, the Yankees have acquired RHP Lance Lynn and money to help pay for his contract in exchange for first baseman Tyler Austin and 19-year-old starting pitcher Luis Rijo. The move was confirmed by Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman and first reported by Peter Sazon.   Photo Credit: ESPN

With the Yankees just past the midway point of their season, I decided to take a look at how everyone is performing and award the players worthy of each specific category. I asked our followers on Twitter to also weigh in, and they were in agreement with me on almost each category. If you haven't had a chance to weigh in, be sure to follow us on Twitter by clicking the link at the bottom of this page. Photo Credit: AP

Very few series in June feel this important. For the third time this year, and the second time in the Bronx, the Yankees will battle the Red Sox in a three-game series. Both teams have been fantastic this year, as both are coming into the series with the best two records in all of baseball. The Yankees had an off-day Thursday, and before that won a three-game series in Philadelphia, and the Red Sox are fresh off a series win against the Los Angeles Angels in Boston. So far this year the teams have split their six games, each winning two at home. The first series, which was in Boston, had a lot of drama, including a bench-clearing brawl started by Tyler Austin and Joe Kelly. With first place at stake, and tensions high, we should be in for a great series from the best rivalry in sports.

Last year Cashman acquired Sonny Gray, Jaime Garcia, David Robertson, Tommy Khanle, and Todd Frazier before the July 31st deadline, which helped drive the Bombers to game seven of the ALCS, but they gave up some of their better prospect in the process. The team has its sights set on a championship, so GM Brian Cashman will undoubtedly upgrade the starting pitching at the deadline, but who and for what? Sean M Haffey/Getty Images

Lately, there has been much talk about the Yankees being "too deep" of a ball club. For many teams, such a problem (if we truly want to label it as such) is an enviable one. However, with key players returning from the disabled and more to on the way, the Yankees have been, and will continue to be, faced with tough roster decisions. The Bombers have already decided to keep the recently reinstated Brandon Drury, a key offseason acquisition, in the minors due to the success of Miguel Andujar, who has filled in at third base in Drury's absence. With Greg Bird due back in the coming weeks, Tyler Austin will likely be sent down to Triple-A. Austin has proven he can succeed at the major league level, which is precisely why he should be a key piece in a trade to a land a starting pitcher this summer. Photo Credit: Ed Zurga/Getty Images

Eight is great, but the first place New York Yankees will look for their ninth straight series win, as they head into Texas to take on the struggling last place Texas Rangers. Photo Credit: Charlie Riedel | AP

While the Yankees offense showed up for the second straight day, the story of today’s game was Sonny Gray. Gray delivered his best performance as a Yankee, throwing eight innings of one run ball to lead the Yanks in their series-clinching 10-1 win over the Royals. With the win, the Yankees have now won eight straight series for the first time since 1998 and are 24-6 in their last 30 games. Photo Credit: John Sleezer

There is only one way to describe Neil Walker’s first month in pinstripes – horrendous. Coming off a strong .267/.409/.433 showing for the Brewers, Walker was a victim of a slow free agency period that saw a league hesitant to hand out large contracts to veteran players.  After spending most of the off-season unemployed, Walker signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Yankees mid-way through spring training. Photo Credit; Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

When Greg Bird went down with another ankle injury during Spring Training, it became clear that Tyler Austin would be given a golden opportunity to prove himself. It was also plain to see that this was possibly his last chance to stick around with the Yankees. The year started off with a bang for Austin, as the 26-year-old first baseman was hitting .290 with five home runs and 16 RBI on April 26th. Pair this with the fact that platoon-mate Neil Walker was hitting .172 at the time, and Tyler Austin was running away with the first base job. It seemed for sure that Walker, not Austin, would be the odd man out when Bird eventually returned. Photo Credit: AP

Every Friday morning, I will start answering your guys’ questions in regards to the Yankees or anything baseball related. Be on the lookout for tweets regarding the mailbag or tweet us whenever convenient with the hashtag #BBBMailbag to send in a question. Here are this weeks’ questions and my answers: Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Yankees are coming off a torrid pace winning the past 15 of their 16 games, and now face off against the rival Boston Red Sox in the Bronx after a much needed off day.  There was plenty of fireworks in their previous meeting in Fenway, as the Yankees series loss was punctuated by an instant classic bench clearing brawl between Tyler Austin and Joe Kelly.  It was less than a month ago that many fans thought the Bombers were in big trouble, as they were trailing Boston in the division by seven games. However, that is just a distant memory as the Yanks look to make a statement by pummeling the Red Sox to secure the division lead.  (Getty/AP)

Yet another big day at the plate for Didi Gregorius led the Yankees to their fifth consecutive win on Wednesday  night , as they defeated the Minnesota Twins 7-4. The Yankees shortstop also made history when he homered in the third inning. Gregorius became the first Yankees shortstop ever to hit a homerun in four consecutive games. The Bronx Bombers are now 14-9 on the season.   Photo via New York Yankees

The Yankees entered Monday night’s contest against the Twins coming off their first legit series win of the season. With prized prospect Gleyber Torres now manning second base in the Bronx, the Yankees would look to continue to build momentum while the struggling Masahiro Tanaka would look to rebound from a string of very poor outings. Tanaka started strong and even though he seemed to run out of gas in the middle innings yet again, the Yankees used some early (and late) offense to seize control and coast to a 14-1 victory. Credit: Kathy Willens/AP Photo

Coming off a low-scoring contest in Thursday’s game, both teams came out slugging on Friday. Unfortunately for the Yankees, Sonny Gray had another terrible start, and homers from Austin, Stanton, and Andujar were not enough to get the Yankees the victory.   Photo Credit: AP

Coming off a great offensive effort on Monday night, the Yankees threw up a dud on Tuesday in the batter’s box and on the mound. In his last start out, Masahiro Tanaka started strong before fading badly in the fifth inning. Well this time out he didn’t even start strong before putting the Yankees in a bind. Couple that with an evening full of stranded base runners for the offense and you have exactly what tonight was, a very frustrating game that felt like one the Yankees played themselves out of from the start. Credit: Elsa/Getty Images The Yankees were down in this game before they even came to the plate in the bottom of the first. The first five batters reached base thanks to three hits, a walk and a rare error by Didi Gregorius. Tanaka was able to get a double play and limit the damage to just three in the inning. The Marlins would add another run in the top of the second inning when Cameron Maybin bunted for a hit and made it to second thanks to another error, this tim...

After going 2-2 during a rain shortened road trip, the Yankees are back home against the Miami Marlins where they routed them very easily 12-1 at the Stadium.   Photo Credit: AP

Coming off a three game set in Detroit that was reduced to a single game after rainouts on both Saturday and Sunday, the Yankees enter this series against one of the league’s worst teams in the Miami Marlins. At 7-7, the Yanks are currently third in the AL East, while the Marlins head in at 4-11, last in the NL East. A two-game series in the Bronx, each team is looking to pick up a few wins to get back in the division race.   Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Yankees-Red Sox is one of the greatest rivalries in sports, and Wednesday night was one to remember. Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin took a hard slide into second base in the top of the third inning, catching Red Sox shortstop Brock Holt back leg with his cleat. Holt obviously upset with Austin, exchanged a few pleasantries with the young Yankee, causing the benches and bullpens to clear. The scene looked primed to blow up in a classic brawl, but the teams returned to their dugouts after a few minutes of collaring by the umpires. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The Yankees entered today after a long and brutal 14-1 loss last night looking to bounce back in game two of this three game set. With a bit of recent trouble keeping the ball in the ballpark, Masahiro Tanaka was ready to do his job in Fenway, and while he did not pitch sharply, the Yankees’ bats came alive and were ignited by two benches clearing incidents that eventually led to a 10-7 victory. Photo Credit: AP

The Yankees entered action today at 4-4, on the heels of a brutal 14-inning loss last night that also saw them lose both starting pitcher CC  Sabathia  (hip strain) as well as starting third baseman Brandon Drury (migraines, blurred vision) to the disabled list.  Today's pitching matchup pitted Sonny Gray against Baltimore right hander Chris Tillman. The New York offense had struggled to generate much over the first two games of this series against Baltimore and that trend continued for much of the day today, however, they were able to break out late to pave the way to  an 8-3 victory.     Photo Credit: Julie Jacobson/AP