Bronx Bomber Ball

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

Unlike Friday night, the Yankees showed no sign of rust after not playing all week, as they clobbered five long balls en route to an 8-3 win over the Royals. With the win, the Yanks (29-13) are once again tied for first place in the AL East with the Red Sox (31-15). AP

The New York Yankees were eager to play baseball again after two days off and an overnight flight delay that found them sleeping in a Washington D.C. airport. The rain in Washington gave the team extra rest, but it didn’t help as they dropped the first game to Kansas City by a score of 5-2.   Credit: AP/Colin E. Braley

The Yankees have a top-three farm system in all of baseball even with the graduation of a handful of players due to their contributions  at the MLB level. The strength of their farm system at the moment is, by far, pitching. According to MLB.com’s rankings, 23 of the Yankees top 30 prospects are pitchers. With an influx of young offensive players becoming major leaguers in the Bronx in recent seasons, such as, Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Clint Frazier, Greg Bird, Miguel Andujar, Tyler Austin, Tyler Wade, and Gleyber Torres, the Yankees’ front office has made it a point to try to build up their pitching depth and have successfully done so. Here is an update on the Yankees’ top ten pitching prospects. Photo Credit: Louriann Mardo-Zayat

The Yankees will head to Kansas City to face the Royals after a two-game set against the Washington Nationals in which one game was suspended and one was postponed due to weather. It will be the first nine inning game the Yanks have played since their 6-2 win versus Oakland on May 13 th . The Royals have the second worst record in the league, sitting at 13-30. The 28-12 Yankees will hopefully add three wins to their total after this series.                                              Photo Credit: David Richard/USA Today Sports                                          

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

The Yankees made a surprising move today, calling up outfielder Clint Frazier from AAA to join the team in Washington this week, confirmed by Joel Sherman of the NY Post and MLB Network.  The headliner in the Andrew Miller trade in 2016, Frazier spent a short stint in the Bronx last summer with the Bombers, batting .231 with four HR and 17 RBI, but an oblique strain limited his time in the majors to only 22 games.  Getty Images

This offseason, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Yankees would package Clint Frazier in a deal for a starting pitcher. To the surprise of many, such a scenario never came to fruition. With Frazier suffering a scary concussion in spring training and being on the shelf for a while, questions about his future with the organization were temporarily put on hold. However, with Frazier now fully healthy again and raking in the minors, he's doing everything he can to push the Yankees' hand. Aaron Hicks, the starting center fielder, has not been performing at the high level expected of him going into the season. The time has come for the Yankees to, at the very least, strongly consider calling up the 23-year old Frazier to give him a legitimate shot to prove to the organization that he should be in its long-term plans. Photo Credit: Charles Wenzelberg

When the Yankees shipped Carlos Beltran to Arlington in the summer of 2016, they received three minor league pitchers, most notably, Dillon Tate who was a former top-five draft pick. While Tate has flashed signs of his former self, there is another pitcher who is currently flying under the radar and proving why he could have been absolute steal. Meet Erik Swanson.   Photo Credit: Martin Griff