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Jonathan Loaisiga’s workload and a plan for the rest of 2018

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(Mike Stobe/Getty)

Last night neophyte right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga made his fourth big league start, and he labored but didn’t crumble. In two of his four starts he pitched very well and put up zeroes. In the other two he ran long counts and struggled to put hitters away. He looked like an inexperienced kid making the jump straight from Double-A, because that’s what he is.

Following last night’s game the Yankees sent Loaisiga down to Triple-A Scranton — A.J. Cole will be activated off the disabled list to fill the roster spot — which is a pretty good indication Masahiro Tanaka will rejoin the rotation soon. Overall, Loaisiga looked impressive in his four-start cameo, though I think the need for more minor league seasoning is fairly obvious. He’ll be back soon enough.

The good news is Loaisiga showed that, if (and, inevitably, when) the Yankees need another spot starter later in the season, he’s up to the task. The bad news is Loaisiga doesn’t have many innings to give this season. Prior to yesterday’s game Aaron Boone told Jack Curry that the Yankees think Loaisiga can give them “north of 100 innings” this season. That’s not much! His workloads over the years:

  • 2013: 68.2 innings
  • 2014-15: Did not pitch (injured, released)
  • 2016: 2.1 innings before Tommy John surgery
  • 2017: 32.2 innings after Tommy John surgery
  • 2018: 63 innings and counting

The “north of 100 innings” comment is kinda vague. Did Boone mean 100 innings total? If yes, Loaisiga doesn’t have many more to give! Did Boone mean another 100 innings? In that case Loaisiga and the Yankees are in good shape. Given his injury history and career workload to date, pushing the kid to 160-ish innings this year doesn’t seem like something that will happen.

My hunch is this is more of a play it by ear situation. The Yankees will monitor Loaisiga’s progress and look for signs of fatigue — that includes velocity loss, a decline in spin rate, those sort of things — and adjust his workload as necessary. Putting a hard (and arbitrary) innings cap on a player is an outdated player development plan. Teams are smarter these days. They monitor the pitcher and act accordingly.

Maybe Loaisiga handles 160-ish innings like a champ this year and the Yankees don’t have to sweat his workload. I’d bet against it though. The injury history is ugly and his velocity has faded in each of his starts, suggesting his stamina isn’t where he needs to be. At some point the Yankees will likely have to pull back the reins. We don’t know when it’ll happen but odds are it’ll happen.

And whenever the Yankees do have to begin scaling back Loaisiga’s workload, there are three ways they can approach it:

  1. Keep starting him, then shut him down at some point.
  2. Keep starting him, but give him extra rest whenever possible to ensure he’s able to pitch later in the season.
  3. Move him to the bullpen.

No. 1 doesn’t seem like much of an option to me. The Yankees are a World Series contender and Loaisiga has shown he can help them at the MLB level, even as a spot starter. A contender shouldn’t just max out a pitcher’s workload and shut him down. No. 2 is a better plan but it can be difficult. That’s what the Yankees tried to do with Jordan Montgomery last year. Space out his starts, things like that.

Personally, I am a big fan of No. 3, the move him to the bullpen option. Save those last 20 or so innings and let Loaisiga air it out as a one or two innings at a time guy in September. He could be a real weapon in that role. I’m not saying leave him there forever! I absolutely think Loaisiga has the tools to start. I’m just saying that, when he starts to run out of innings, I think it’d be best to use that final few innings out of the bullpen.

This is a decision that will probably be made for the Yankees. They may need a fill-in starter in August or September and have no choice but to keep Loaisiga in the rotation. Ideally, Loaisiga would stay in the rotation as long as possible so he can develop in that role, then finish off the season throwing fire out of the bullpen. Maybe he’d even make the postseason roster in that capacity. That’s a topic for another time.

For now, Loaisiga has made a hell of a climb this season, essentially going from rookie ball to the big leagues and handling it about as well as the Yankees could’ve hoped. Because he is so young and because he has a scary injury history, the Yankees will have to be aware of Loaisiga’s workload the rest of the season, and chances are they’ll have to figure out the best way to handle him in August or September. They’ll have to strike a balance between Loaisiga’s development and maximizing the team’s World Series chances.

DotF: The Yankees beat the Red Sox in Triple-A too

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A couple quick notes to get us started:

  • RHP Freicer Perez’s season is over. He had surgery to remove bone spurs from his shoulder earlier this week, reports Matt Kardos. Perez has been on the disabled list since May 9th with shoulder inflammation. I suppose the good news is there was no structural damage. His labrum and rotator cuff are apparently in good shape. Still a bummer.
  • 1B Tyler Austin was placed on the Triple-A disabled list, the team announced. He left last night’s game with a back issue and saw the doctor today. There’s no word on the severity of the injury or a timetable for his return. Austin’s a call-up-able depth player, but now I guess Brandon Drury is second on the first base depth chart. Or third behind Neil Walker.
  • Baseball America (subs. req’d) released their midseason top 100 prospects list — they’re really overdoing it with the top 100 updates this year — and four Yankees made it: LHP Justus Sheffield (No. 23), OF Estevan Florial (No. 57), RHP Albert Abreu (No. 67), and RHP Jonathan Loaisiga (No. 71). Fun to see Johnny Lasagna on a top 100 list.
  • OF Trey Amburgey, IF Abi Avelino, LHP Caleb Frare, and RHP Dillon Tate were all named to the Double-A Eastern League All-Star Game, the league announced. The All-Star Game will be played July 11th at Arm & Hammer Park in Trenton. You can buy tickets right here.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (7-4 win over Pawtucket) the Yankees even beat the Red Sox in Triple-A tonight

  • 2B Tyler Wade: 2-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K — he’s been great for the last month now
  • CF Clint Frazier: 1-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI — here’s video of the double
  • RF Billy McKinney: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K
  • RHP Chance Adams: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 7/2 GB/FB — 60 of 90 pitches were strikes (67%) … let’s see if he can build on this blah blah blah yadda yadda yadda … sorry, but I’ve said that enough times this season
  • LHP Stephen Tarpley: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 2/0 GB/FB — ten of 19 pitches were strikes … just bumped up from Trenton

[Read more…]

Yankeemetrics: Bounceback Bombers in Philly (June 25-27)

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(AP)

Rebound in Philly
One day after suffering through a nightmare weekend at the Trop, the Yankees headed north and snapped their three-game skid with a 4-2 win over the Phillies on Monday night.

With the victory, the Yankees improved to an MLB-leading 24-9 (.727) against teams with a winning record. Sounds impressive, eh? Yup, it would be the best winning percentage by a team in the Modern Era (since 1900) in games versus opponents with a better than .500 record; the 1906 Cubs (31-12, .721) currently hold the top mark.

Jonathan Loaisiga was brilliant as he retired the first 12 batters (including seven via strikeout) and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before giving up a leadoff single to Jorge Alfaro. He finished his stellar outing with one hit allowed and eight strikeouts in 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

At the age of 23 years and 235 days old, he became the second-youngest pitcher in franchise history to allow no more than one hit, strike out at least eight batters and not give up a run in a game. The only guy younger was a 22-year-old Al Downing when he threw a one-hit, 10 strikeout shutout against the White Sox on July 2, 1963.

And this performance combined with his five-inning scoreless debut on June 15 earns him our #FunFact of the series: He is the first pitcher in franchise history to go at least five innings, allow three hits or fewer and zero earned runs in two of his first three career games.

How dominant was Jonny Lasagna? Not only did he strike out nearly half (8) of the 19 batters he faced, but Alfaro’s single was the only ball that left the infield. Of the eight batted balls that went fair, just one was hit harder than 96 mph.

One of the keys to his excellent performance was his ability to execute with two strikes and putaway batters. 13 of the 19 batters went to two strikes on Monday, and Loaisiga retired 11 of them, with one hit and one walk allowed. In his first two starts, nine of the 26 batters (35%) that got into two-strike counts against him reached base.

Aaron Judge gave the Yankees a 2-0 cushion in the fifth with a screaming line drive homer to left field.

It was his 20th longball of the season, the second straight year he reached that milestone this early into the schedule (team game number 76). He is the first right-handed batter in team history to do that in consecutive seasons, and the list of all Yankees to do it back-back years in a short one:

Aaron Judge (2017-18)
Curtis Granderson (2011-12)
Roger Maris (1960-61)
Mickey Mantle (1956-58, 1960-61)
Lou Gehrig (1929-32)
Babe Ruth (1920-21, 1923-24, 1926-28, 1930-33)

Thank you, Cy Sevy
The Yankees continued to build momentum following their miserable series in Florida as they beat up on the Phillies for a second straight night on Wednesday. The 6-0 blanking was their biggest Interleague shutout win on the road in a decade, since they whitewashed the Mets 9-0 at Shea Stadium in the second game of the two-stadium doubleheader on June 27, 2008.

Aaron Hicks jump-started the offense with a lead-off homer on the third pitch of the game. It was his first lead-off shot in pinstripes (er, road grays), and the first by any Yankee in an Interleague game since Derek Jeter hit one on June 20, 2012 against the Braves.

Didi Gregorius capped off the scoring with his 15th home run of the season in the fifth inning, the third season in a row he’s reached that mark. The only other MLB shortstops with at least 15 dingers in each of the last three years (2016-18) are Trevor Story and Francisco Lindor.

(USA Today)

The best Yankee performance of the night was delivered by Luis Severino, who tossed seven scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. He was in complete control of nearly every at-bat, aggressively attacking hitters early as he threw first-pitch strikes to 23 of 26 batters, a career-best rate of 88.5 percent.

His electric, high-octane fastball was in peak form — its average velocity of 98.6 mph was the second-highest of his career — as he used it both to get ahead in the count and finish off batters. Of the 23 first-pitch strikes he threw, 21 came with his four-seamer. He also ended four of his nine strikeouts with 99-plus mph fastballs, and now has 20 strikeouts with pitches of at least 99 mph. Every other starting pitcher in MLB combined for 22 strikeouts on pitches 99 mph or faster (through Tuesday).

Despite the near-triple-digit radar readings on his fastball, the pitch wasn’t a swing-and-miss weapon for Severino. Instead, the excellent movement and deception of the pitch (especially relative to his sharp-breaking slider), combined with his ability to pound the zone, consistently fooled the Phillies batters. He got a career-best 20 called strikes with his four-seamer and only a couple of them were on the edges of the zone:

This was his fifth scoreless start with at least seven strikeouts in 2018, the most of any pitcher in the majors this season. He’s also the first pitcher in franchise history to throw five such starts in the first half of a season.

And, in case you need some visual proof that Severino belongs on the list of baseball’s most elite pitchers, our favorite stat ….

No runs, no win, no sweep
There would be no sweep in Philly as the Yankees offense went M.I.A on Wednesday night and sleepwalked through a listless 3-0 loss.

They’ve now been shut out three times this season, matching their entire total from 2017. All three blankings have come in June and all three have come on the road. The only other time since 1990 that the Yankees suffered three road shutouts in a single calendar month was when they had five(!) in September 2016.

(AP)

Kyle Higashioka got his first start of the season but is still looking for his first career big-league hit after going 0-for-2. His streak of 20 hitless at-bats to start a career is tied with Dusty Cooke (1930) for the longest by a Yankee position player who debuted with the team in the Live Ball Era (since 1920).

After starter Luis Cessa was shelled for three runs in three innings, a trio of bullpen arms — Giovanny Gallegos, Jonathan Holder and Domingo German — held the Phillies scoreless the rest of the game. Holder now has gone 23 straight outings without allowing an earned run, dating back to his recall from Triple-A on April 21. That’s puts him in some pretty impressive company:

Taking stock of the Yankees’ trade chips prior to the deadline

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Frazier. (Presswire)

We are less than six weeks away from the 2018 non-waiver trade deadline and already the trade winds are beginning to blow. The Rays sent Denard Span and Alex Colome to the Mariners a few weeks ago, and the Royals have since gotten in on the act by trading Jon Jay to the Diamondbacks and Kelvin Herrera to the Nationals. The sellers are starting to sell.

The Yankees, clearly, will be buyers prior to the trade deadline. Starting pitching is an obvious need. Adding a reliever could be worthwhile too. It is entirely possible other needs will pop up over the next few weeks as well. The Yankees have luxury tax payroll space and a deep cache of prospects, which allows them to buy basically whatever they want at the deadline. They can get anyone.

“Clearly starting pitching was always a concern. It’s definitely one of the areas we’re going to be looking at,” said Hal Steinbrenner to Scott Orgera at the quarterly owners’ meetings last week. “Purposely left a decent amount of money for just this. If we decide to go get a pitcher and if a pitcher’s available, I think we definitely have the flexibility that would allow me to do just that.”

While no player is ever truly untouchable, the Yankees do have some untouchables. Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, and Luis Severino are as untouchable as it gets and Gleyber Torres has joined that group as well. “Come on now. I’ve got to walk around this city,” joke Brian Cashman to Erik Boland the other day when asked whether trading Torres is a possibility. Even with those guys off the table, the Yankees have plenty of trade chips. Let’s take stock.

The Andujar Question

Might as well start here. The Yankees reportedly made Miguel Andujar off-limits in trade talks over the winter and we’ve seen why so far this season. Even with a tiny little recent slump, Andujar is still hitting .290/.317/.519 (125 wRC+) with an 18.1% strikeout rate. A .229 ISO and an 18.1% strikeout rate is one hell of a combination for a rookie. We’ve also seen Andujar hit all types of pitching already.

That said, should Andujar be off-limits? You could argue his trade value is higher right now than ever before because he’s had some big league success and is still so young with so much team control. Andujar’s probably never going to walk much and his defense, which is serviceable, might never be better than, well, serviceable. I’m not saying the Yankees should give Andujar away. I love the kid. I’m just saying he’s not as untouchable as Torres.

The Top Chips

Drury. (The Citizens’ Voice)

Brandon Drury’s presence is the reason Andujar should not be untouchable. The Yankees have an MLB ready third baseman — their Opening Day third baseman, in fact — stashed in Triple-A. Drury is only 25 himself and, with another two weeks or so in the minors, his free agency will be pushed back one year. He’s hitting .360/.470/.529 (187 wRC+) with the RailRiders, and while that’s great, I’d expect a dude with two-plus years as an everyday big leaguer to wreck Triple-A pitching. That’s what Drury is doing.

Ostensibly, Drury does not have as much trade value as Andujar because he’s a little older and doesn’t come with as much team control. He is very clearly a trade chip though. The Yankees can’t keep him in Triple-A much longer. I mean, they could, but at some point there are diminishing returns. I’m not sure Drury is learning much or developing new skills right now. We are fast approaching the point where the Yankees either have to trade him or call him up before he starts to stagnate.

Among the guys we know the Yankees are willing to deal, Clint Frazier is the best trade chip. He’s 23, he’s been destroying Triple-A, he’s had some MLB success, and he’s not far removed from being a top prospect. The Yankees have a full outfield. As much as I would love the Yankees to get Frazier into the lineup on an everyday basis next year, they would be crazy to make him untouchable at the deadline. They reportedly offered him to the Pirates in a potential Gerrit Cole deal and he’s playing center field in Triple-A in what amounts to showcase. He’s available.

Justus Sheffield is, by no small margin, the top pitching prospect in the farm system. He was said to be on the team’s list of untouchables over the winter, though pitchers break and have such a high attrition rate — Sheffield has some command issues himself — that it would be silly to make him off-limits. If the Yankees have a chance to add a quality young pitcher like, say, Blake Snell, of course you trade Sheffield. We’re all hoping Sheffield one day turns into Snell! So trade him for the real Snell. The Yankees won’t deal Sheffield for a rental. But a young guy with years of team control? All bets are off.

The Second Tier

A few months ago Estevan Florial would’ve been among the top chips. Right now he’s coming back from wrist surgery — a fairly common wrist surgery, but still wrist surgery — and his swing-and-miss issues still exist. Because of that, I think he’s more of a second tier trade chip right. I don’t think Florial can headline a package for an impact pitcher at the moment. I also don’t think the Yankees will move him while his stock is down, unless it’s a deal they can’t refuse.

Many of the second tier guys are MLB ready or near MLB ready depth pieces. Tyler Wade. Billy McKinney. Chance Adams. None of them can headline a package for an impact player right now, but a deal for a lesser player? Or as the second or third piece in a larger trade? For sure. Wade is a legitimate shortstop and middle infielder with speed and those guys are hard to find. McKinney has a sweet swing and some power. I’m sure some teams still buy Adams as a starter. Good depth players who the Yankees can’t fit on the roster. Of course they’re available.

Among their tippy top prospects, I get the sense the Yankees are more willing to deal Albert Abreu than anyone. He’s had some injuries — this year’s appendectomy is nothing, but last year he had elbow and lat problems — and while the stuff is excellent, the command is far from it. Between the injuries, the lack of command, and the distance to the big leagues (he’s in High-A), Abreu strikes me as a top 100 caliber prospect the Yankees would be very open to moving. He has a long way to go to be the pitcher he has the potential to be and the Yankees are in win-now mode.

The Impending Rule 5 Draft Guys

Rogers. (Scranton Times-Tribunte)

When you have a great farm system, you’re going to lose players in the Rule 5 Draft. There aren’t enough roster spots to go around and the system is designed to give blocked players an opportunity. The Yankees lost eight total players in the last two Rule 5 Drafts (four each year), six more than any other team. Seven of those eight players came back — Luis Torres is the only exception — but still. You don’t want to risk losing players for nothing.

As a result, the Yankees have been active trading fringe 40-man roster players in recent years. That way they get something in return rather than potentially nothing. Zack Littell went to the Twins in the Jaime Garcia trade, and Ian Clarkin and Tito Polo went to the White Sox in the big Todd Frazier trade. They were traded weeks before they had to be added to the 40-man roster for Rule 5 Draft protection purposes. Here are this offseason’s notable Rule 5 Draft eligibles:

  • Catchers: None
  • Infielders: Diego Castillo, Dermis Garcia, Kyle Holder, Hoy Jun Park
  • Outfielders: Florial (I think)
  • Pitchers: Abreu, Adams, Sheffield, Cody Carroll, Juan De Paula, Freicer Perez (I think), Josh Rogers, Dillon Tate

Two names immediately jump out as potential “trade them before you have to add them to the 40-man roster” candidates: Rogers and Tate. Rogers is the left-handed Littell to me. Great minor league performance to date, good pitchability, not blow-you-away stuff. I don’t think it’s crazy to worry his lack of grounders (39.9% in Triple-A) and lack of swings and misses (9.0%) won’t translate well to Yankee Stadium, even as a lefty.

As for Tate, he was the fourth overall pick in the draft three years ago and he’s been very good this season, throwing 66.2 innings with a 3.11 ERA (3.38 FIP) at Double-A. You’d like to see more strikeouts (22.9%) from a dude with his stuff, but the walk (5.9%) and ground ball (50.8%) numbers are good. I wonder if this is a situation where his trade value exceeds his real life value. There’s a decent chance Tate is a reliever long-term. A good one, but still a reliever. Another club might view him as a no-doubt starter and fall in love with the whole “former No. 4 pick” thing.

Regardless of what the Yankees do with Rogers and Tate — right now I’d bet on Tate being added to the 40-man roster and Rogers not, assuming they aren’t traded — there is going to be some roster shuffling in the coming weeks. A few of these Rule 5 Draft eligibles could be moved prior to the trade deadline or soon after the season. Aside from Sheffield, there’s no stud here that will net you an impact big league player. These guys are for depth moves or to fill out a larger package.

The Lower Level Guys

Moreso than ever before, teams are taking very low level minor leaguers in trades. And I don’t mean low level as in not highly regarded. I mean the low levels of the minors. One of the prospects in the Kelvin Herrera trade was a 17-year-old in rookie ball. The second piece in last year’s Justin Wilson/Alex Avila trade was an 18-year-old in Single-A. The Yankees traded 20-year-old Blake Rutherford last year.

Teams are trying to acquire these talented young players before they break out into top prospects — the Yankees themselves have done this with the Nick Rumbelow trade (18-year-old Juan Then) and the Jake Cave trade (20-year-old Luis Gil) — and the Yankees have some of these players to offer, I think. Then is one. So is Saul Torres, Alex Vargas, Roansy Contreras, and Pablo Olivares. Guys like that are involved in trades more than ever before.

Could Luis Medina, Everson Pereira, or Ezequiel Duran be trade chips? They’re all teenagers and they’re all on the cusp of becoming excellent prospects, but of course they’re trade chips. The Yankees are a bona fide World Series contender. They’d be nuts to let a teenager in rookie stand in the way of a win-now trade. I’m not saying they should give those guys away! But they have value and they’re in demand, and they’re so far away from the big leaguers that they can’t be untouchable.

* * *

Trading players off your big league roster is not usually something a contending team does, but it is definitely possible. Neil Walker could go in a deal to offset salary a la Tyler Clippard last year, for example. I’d be surprised if the Yankees traded a reliever. I’d be even more surprised if they traded Sonny Gray, even in a deal for another starter. To me, the master plan is add a starter and get Gray on track, not replace Gray.

Domingo German and Jonathan Loaisiga are on the big league roster right now — they’re not just on the roster, they’re making starts every fifth day — and they’re trade chips for sure. German has shown promising swing-and-miss ability and everyone loves Johnny Lasagna, but they both have scary injury histories, and if they can help the Yankees get a potential difference-maker, of course they’ll trade ’em.

All of that is the long way of saying the Yankees have trade chips in all shapes and sizes. Once upon a time they were dealing from a pool of, like, three desirable prospects. Now they have pitchers, position players, MLB ready guys, far away guys, you name it. The Yankees can meet pretty much any asking price. That doesn’t mean they will. If the Yankees lose a bidding war this year, it’ll be because they don’t want to give up the pieces, not because they don’t have the pieces.

Yankeemetrics: Three more wins, bats still frozen (June 14-17)

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(Newsday)

Gley-Babe
The Fighting Spirit returned for one game, at least, as the Yankees survived yet another early-inning deficit and rallied to beat the Rays 4-3 on Thursday night. Domingo German put the Yankees quickly in a hole when Matt Duffy took him deep on the first pitch he saw. It was first time a Yankee pitcher surrendered a homer on the very first pitch of the game (i.e. top of the first inning) since Masahiro Tanaka served one up to Jose Reyes on June 17, 2014.

After that early hiccup, German settled down and pitched six strong innings, allowing just two more runs while striking out a career-high 10 batters. When German is locked in, he might have the nastiest stuff on the team with a biting curveball and filthy changeup that can make hitters look like little-leaguers at the plate.

He got 26 swings-and-misses, tied for the fourth-most by any pitcher in a game this year, and seven more than any other Yankee pitcher this season. Half (13) of those misses were with his curveball; the only other pitcher this season with more curveball whiffs in a game was Carlos Carrasco (14) on May 9.

The curveball is more than just a whiff machine, though, he also netted four called strikes with the pitch. That nasty combo of swinging strikes (41% whiff/swings) and looking strikes (36% called strikes/takes) puts German among the elite curveball artists this season. Among pitchers that have thrown at least 100 curves, German and Charlie Morton are the only guys with a Whiffs per Swing rate of at least 40 percent and a Called Strikes per Take rate of at least 35 percent.

(Getty)

Gleyber Torres made sure that German would get his first MLB win, crushing a 96-mph fastball from Blake Snell into the left field seats in the fifth inning, and turning a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 advantage. It was his 13th career homer, and eighth that either tied the game or gave the Yankees a lead. Through Thursday, those eight go-ahead/tying homers were three more than any other Yankee had hit since his debut on April 22.

Incredibly, what he is doing — relative to his age, experience and position — is nearly unprecedented. The only other rookie second baseman age 21 or younger to hit at least 13 homers in a season was Hall-of-Famer Joe Morgan with 14 in 1965.

And, of course, it wouldn’t be a Gleyber Day without a reference to Mickey Mantle. His 13 homers are already tied for the fourth-most by any Yankee in his age-21 season or younger:

Yankees Most HR in Age-21 Season or Younger
Year Name HR
1936 Joe DiMaggio 29
1952 Mickey Mantle 23
1953 Mickey Mantle 21
2018 Gleyber Torres 13
1951 Mickey Mantle 13
(Newsday)

J-Lo? Jonny Lasagna? J-Siggy?
The Yankees overflowing pipeline of young talent was in the spotlight again on Friday night as Jonathan Loaisiga delivered a super-impressive debut performance in the 5-0 win over the Rays. It was their third shutout in eight games; they had just two shutouts in the first 58 games of the season.

Loaisiga struggled with his command (four walks) but dominated hitters with his electric three-pitch mix (18.7% swinging strike rate) as he tossed five scoreless innings while striking out six. He also showed incredible poise, a bulldog mentality and an uncanny calmness on the mound, holding the Rays to one hit in 10 at-bats with runners on base.

His changeup, which he threw only 13 times (per Brooksbaseball.net), might have been his nastiest offering of the night. The Rays swung at seven of those changeups, making contact twice (one foul, one groundout) while whiffing five times. Mallex Smith had no idea what to do with this ridiculous changeup from Loaisiga:

He is the first pitcher in franchise history to allow zero earned runs and strike out at least six batters in his first career major-league game. And he is just the second Yankee pitcher ever to make his MLB debut at Yankee Stadium as a starter and not give up a run. The other was Sam Militello on Aug. 9, 1992 against the Red Sox.

Gary Sanchez broke the game open with bases-loaded three-RBI double in the eighth inning. That had made him 12-for-23 (.522), including three sac flies, and 25 RBI with the bases loaded since the start of 2017. He has the highest bases-loaded batting average over the last two seasons among players with more than 20 plate appearances (through Friday).

(Getty)

Severino cheat code
Another home series vs. the Rays, another series win; another Luis Severino start, another Severino gem; another power outburst, another Yankee victory. Just like clockwork, the Yankees cruised to a 4-1 win over the Rays on Saturday thanks to the familiar Bronx Bomber formula of power pitching plus power hitting.

The victory clinched their 12th straight home series win against Tampa Bay, the Yankees longest such streak since winning 17 in a row in the Bronx against the Washington Senators from 1952-57.

Luis Severino battled through a rocky first few innings, but still delivered a masterful eight-inning, nine-strikeout, scoreless performance. He dominated the Rays with an electric fastball that averaged a season-high 98.6 mph and topped out at 100.2 mph (per Statcast).

Six of his nine punchouts came on pitches clocked 99 mph or faster, matching the most in any game by a pitcher since pitch velocity tracking began in 2008 (Stephen Strasburg also did it in his MLB debut on June 8, 2010). Severino now has 15 strikeouts on pitches 99-plus-mph this season; all other MLB starters have combined for 18 (through Saturday).

Severino has been a beast in the Bronx this year, earning our #FunFact of the series: He has allowed no more than two runs in each of his first eight home starts in 2018, the longest such streak by any Yankee pitcher at Yankee Stadium (old or new) to begin a season.

And, of course, because it’s another Sevy Gem, we get to include our favorite leaderboard:

Hot day, cold bats
There would be no sweep of the Rays in the Bronx, as the Yankees punchless offense couldn’t rally from another early deficit, losing 3-1.

(New York Post)

Their deep hitting slump with runners in scoring position continued with an 0-for-7 performance on Sunday; in their last 12 games, dating back to the second game of the June 4 doubleheader versus the Tigers, the Yankees are 8-for-76 (.105) with RISP. Yet, they are 8-4 over this stretch thanks a pitching staff and defense that has given up just 24 runs in those 12 games. Sunday was the first game they lost this season at Yankee Stadium when allowing no more than four runs; they were an MLB-best 22-0 in those games.

There was little to cheer about in the this game aside from the solid effort by CC Sabathia, who battled back after some early-inning struggles and lasted into the eighth inning while striking out a season-high 10 batters. It was just the second double-digit strikeout game for Sabathia in the last five seasons (the other was Aug. 17, 2017 vs. Blue Jays), as he became the oldest Yankee with at least 10 strikeouts in a games since a 40-year-old Andy Pettitte on April 24, 2013 against … the Rays.

Game 65: Johnny Lasagna’s Debut

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(Oscar Navarrete/La Prensa)

I gotta say, if you would’ve told me in March that Jonathan Loaisiga would join the rotation on June 15th, I would’ve guessed all hell broke loose. The dude had pitched in one game above the short season minor leagues prior to this season and it seemed like he would be pretty far down the rotation depth chart. Instead, the Yankees have the best record in baseball and Loaisiga is debuting on June 15th. Shows what I know.

Loaisiga is only 23 but he’s endured a lot to get here. He’s had a ton of injuries, he was released by the Giants, and he actually agreed to join a team in Italy before the Yankees signed him out of a tryout camp. Now he’s a big leaguer, and deserving one. The man affectionately known as Johnny Lasagna threw 43 innings with a 2.30 ERA (2.39 FIP) and great strikeout (31.6%) and walk (2.3%) rates for High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton prior to Saturday’s 49-pitch tune-up start.

What should you expect from Loaisiga tonight? A mid-90s fastball as well as a good curveball and a good changeup, for starters. I also wouldn’t expect very many innings. The Yankees capped him at five innings per start in the minors this year and he hasn’t thrown more than 89 pitches in a game. Hopefully Loaisiga can get them through five innings. Hopefully the offense can score more than four runs. Here are the lineups:

New York Yankees
1. LF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. SS Didi Gregorius
4. DH Giancarlo Stanton
5. 1B Greg Bird
6. C Gary Sanchez
7. CF Aaron Hicks
8. 3B Miguel Andujar
9. 2B Gleyber Torres

RHP Jonathan Loaisiga

Tampa Bay Rays
1. DH Matt Duffy
2. 1B Jake Bauers
3. C Wilson Ramos
4. 2B Joey Wendle
5. SS Willy Adames
6. CF Mallex Smith
7. 3B Christian Arroyo
8. LF Rob Refsnyder
9. RF Johnny Field

RHP Nathan Eovaldi

It is cloudy and on the cool side in New York, though there’s no rain in the forecast, and that’s all I care about. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:05pm ET and you can watch on WPIX. Enjoy the game.

Roster Move: Tyler Austin was sent down to Triple-A Scranton following last night’s game to make room on the roster for Loaisiga, the Yankees announced. Austin was great when the Yankees needed him in April. He hasn’t been all that good since. Can’t say it’s a surprise he was sent down.

Update: Jonathan Loaisiga will start Friday vs. Rays

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(Getty)

10:06pm ET: Boone corrected himself following tonight’s win. Loaisiga will start Friday, not Thursday. That’s when the Yankees were originally planning to use Tanaka’s replacement. Boone just misspoke before the game.

4:37pm ET: The Johnny Lasagna era is upon us. This afternoon Aaron Boone announced Jonathan Loaisiga is indeed being called up to replace Masahiro Tanaka. He’ll start Thursday, in the series opener against the Rays. That gives Domingo German and Luis Severino an extra day of rest before their next starts.

Loaisiga, 23, owns a 3.00 ERA (2.32 ERA) with 31.9% strikeouts and 2.2% walks in 45 innings split between High-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton this season. He threw 49 pitches Saturday in what sure seemed like a tune-up start. Loaisiga, my No. 17 prospect, had thrown only 2.1 innings above the short season minor leagues prior to 2018.

In yesterday’s poll, Loaisiga narrowly edged out Justus Sheffield as the preferred Tanaka replacement. The kid has made a meteoric rise since returning from Tommy John surgery last year, going from rookie ball to the 40-man roster to Double-A to the big leagues. Quite a year for Loaisiga.

The Yankees will have to make a 25-man roster move to accommodate Loaisiga. Ronald Torreyes was called back up when Tanaka went on the disabled list, so I suppose he could be sent back down, though I wonder whether Tyler Austin will get optioned instead. He hasn’t hit much lately and Torreyes is more versatile. We’ll see.