Bronx Bomber Ball

After salvaging the last game of their three game series with San Diego, the Yankees now travel to Chicago where they’ll kick off a three game set with the White Sox on Monday. The Yankees are in the midst of a 10 game road trip heading into the All-Star Break, with each series against a tougher opponent than the last. Characteristic of their inconsistent performance all season, the Yankees dropped two of three on the easiest leg of the trip, but don’t be surprised if they have a strong week ahead. After opening the season as one of baseball’s early surprises at 23-10, the White Sox have come back to earth and are now where many thought they would be to start the season. In mid-May, the Yankees took two of three from Chicago at Yankee Stadium.

Chad Green, making his second career start, pitched a spectacular game to help the Yankees salvage a game from this weekend’s series against the Padres with a 6-3 victory on Sunday afternoon. After giving up eight hits and four earned runs in his Major League debut on May 16, Green hurled six innings of one run ball while striking out eight batters today. It was the kind of start the Yankees were desperately looking for, especially when you consider the struggles of New York’s offense all season long. Photo Credit: Lenny Ignelzi | AP

Here at at the BBB we try our best to confine our coverage to the New York Yankees. Even when discussing controversial issues, we look at the them through the lens of their impact on the Yankees. Though I will make references to the Yankees, this piece is an exception to our general rule. Yesterday, I came across an article published by the New York Daily News  titled, " Major League Baseball must permanently retire 'God Bless America,' a song that offends everyone ." Upon reading this piece by columnist Gersh Kuntzman, I became enraged. Not only is it grossly out of my touch with my personal values as an American, but also with those of the overwhelming majority of baseball fans I've come into contact with, especially those who root for the New York Yankees. DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this piece are my own, and should in no way be generalized with the entirety of the Bronx Bomber Blog.  Photo Credit: Getty Images/Tim Clayton

With an intriguing pitching matchup of two pitchers trending in opposite directions in Ivan Nova for the Yankees vs. Drew Pomeranz for the Padres, Nova had to be on top of his game to keep the Yankees in the ballgame. He did just that. However, the Padres (35-46) left the game as walk-off winners when Melvin Upton Jr. belted the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning way over the left field wall to beat the Yankees (39-41) in the second game of the series to give San Diego a 2-1 victory. Photo Credit: Lenny Ignelzi | AP

About a month ago, most Yankees fans, including myself, were ready to run Michael Pineda out of town. Despite his profound struggles early on, Pineda seems to have finally figured it out. Granted, he's exhibited flashes of brilliance in the past so we should maintain a certain level of skepticism. On the other hand, however, Pineda has responded to a tremendous amount of adversity this season. After a horrendous April and May, Pineda has quietly gotten his season back on track. If we are finally seeing the real Michael Pineda, his best performances may be in the future. With the recent struggles of Nathan Eovaldi and Ivan Nova, it is of the utmost importance that the Yankees have another solid starting pitcher. It just so happens that Pineda may have become that guy. DISCLAIMER: This article is in no way an endorsement of Michael Pineda, nor is it a prediction that he has indeed turned it around. It's a simply an opinion-based observation. AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

The Yankees began a three game set in Sunny San Diego with the All-Star Game hosting Padres on Friday night. Nathan Eovaldi, looking to bounce back from an awful month of June where he went 0-3 with an ERA of 8.65 and an eye-gouging 1.81 WHIP in five starts, was opposed by Colin Rea, who also had a bad month of June going 1-1 with a 6.15 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in five starts. However, in a new month, Eovaldi looked to get back to his May ways, but was unable to do so in a game that featured a lot of offense. The Yankees would rally for four runs in the ninth, but could not complete the comeback in a 7-6 Padres win. Photo Credit: Lenny Ignelzi | AP

The Yankees have been known to be buyers in the international market, which has led to signings of Jorge Mateo, Domingo Acevedo, Wilkerman Garcia, and others. However, the Yankees have yet to sign an MLB-ready, stud international free agent. They were unable to sign Jose Abreu, Aroldis Chapman, and they failed to sign Yoan Moncada, who went to Boston, and is now one of the top prospects in all of baseball, amongst many others that they passed on. But 32-year-old Cuban stud Yulieski Gourriel is different. He will be exempt from the international spending limitations due to his age and professional experience. He’s ready to help an MLB team immediately, and the Yankees are interested as they just recently hosted a workout for the Cuban defector. Photo via Yulieski Gourriel's Instagram

When the Yankees traded for Didi Gregorius, no one had a single clue of what the Yankees were getting. Everyone knew Gregorius had a solid glove, but the question was always the bat. While Gregorius’ first month in pinstripes was pretty bad, the Yankees shortstop was able to turn things around and become a mainstay in the Yankees’ lineup. Adam Hunger/Getty Images

The Yankees are coming off a split against the American League’s top team, the Texas Rangers. After being outplayed and games one and two and for the most part of game three the Bronx Bombers were able to rally late on Wednesday and walk-off thanks to a Didi Gregorius home run. Michael Pineda came up huge in game four and “No Runs DMC” lived up to their name, the Yanks were able to walk off again after Robinson Chirinos let a Tony Barnette pitch by to the backstop allowing Chase Headley to score. The Yankees now sit with a 39-39 record good for 4 th  place in the AL East. That being said these last two wins over the Rangers were beyond impressive and showed that these guys still have some fight left in them. That brings us to this weekend series where it will be a rematch of the 1998 World Series when the Bombers travel west to sunny San Diego to take on the Padres.

The Yankees rotation is everything but a model of consistency. With the likes of Michael Pineda (who has been much better as of late), Nathan Eovaldi, and especially Ivan Nova getting the ball every fifth day, the Yankees are unsure what type of performance they will receive on any given night. As frustrating as they may be, Pineda and Eovaldi have tremendous talent and have even exhibited potential at the major league level. Nova, on the other hand, has no future with this organization. He's been with the team since 2010, and at 29 years old, will be heading into free agency this offseason. In a season that everyone, except Yankees upper management, realizes is lost, it would be much more conducive to the team's long-term interests to call up Luis Severino to replace the struggling Nova. Although Severino struggled during his brief stint in the majors this year, he is only 22 years old. Moving forward, he is one of the cornerstones on which the organization is depending on for...