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Game 87: The Start of the Second Half

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(Presswire)
(Presswire)

Welcome to the first day of the rest of the season. The All-Star break is over and we’re officially into the dog days of summer. The Yankees begin a four-game set with the Red Sox in Fenway Park tonight. Best case scenario is they leave this series with a half-game lead in the AL East. Worst case scenario is they leave 7.5 games back. A few too many things have been playing out to the worst case scenario for my liking lately.

The Yankees return from the All-Star break with a 45-41 record and a healthy +98 run differential, though they’re also 7-18 in their last 25 games, which is pretty darn awful. They haven’t won a series or back-to-back games or more than a month now. Hopefully everyone got their heads clear during the break and the second half serves as a fresh start. The Yankees could really use one. Here is the Red Sox’s lineup and here is the Yankees’ lineup:

  1. LF Brett Gardner
  2. C Gary Sanchez
  3. RF Aaron Judge
  4. DH Matt Holliday
  5. SS Didi Gregorius
  6. 1B Garrett Cooper
  7. CF Jacoby Ellsbury
  8. 3B Chase Headley
  9. 2B Ronald Torreyes
    LHP Jordan Montgomery

It is cloudy, cool, and humid in Boston this evening. There is rain in the forecast, though not until later tonight. It shouldn’t be a problem unless the game goes to extra innings or something. Tonight’s game will begin at 7:10pm ET and you can watch on YES locally and MLB Network nationally. Enjoy the game.

Injury Updates: In case you missed it earlier, Michael Pineda has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and Tommy John surgery has been recommended. He will get a second opinion first … Greg Bird (ankle) has been diagnosed with inflammation in his os trigonum, which is essentially an extra bone in his ankle. He received another cortisone shot, and if that doesn’t work, he may need surgery. The surgery comes with a 6-8 week rehab timetable, meaning he could be back for September … Starlin Castro (hamstring) will play another minor league rehab game tonight, and could return as soon as tomorrow depending how he feels.

Roster Moves: Welcome back, Matt Holliday and Jordan Montgomery. Holliday (illness) was activated off the disabled list and Montgomery was called back up. He didn’t even miss a start … Pineda was placed on the 10-day DL, allowing the Montgomery to return before his ten days in the minors were up … Rob Refsnyder was sent down to clear a roster spot for Holliday … welcome to the big leagues, Garrett Cooper. He’s been added to the roster following yesterday’s trade. He essentially takes Tyler Webb’s 25-man and 40-man roster spots. This will be Cooper’s MLB debut. Next time the Yankees need a 40-man spot, they’ll slide Pineda to the 60-day DL.

Yankees send Tyler Webb to Brewers for Garrett Cooper

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(@Brewers)
(@Brewers)

A trade! A small one, but a trade nonetheless. The Yankees have shipped lefty reliever Tyler Webb to the Brewers for Triple-A first baseman Garrett Cooper, both teams have announced. This is very much a spare part for spare part trade. The Yankees need first base help and the Brewers need a lefty reliever, so they got together for a minor deal.

Cooper, 26, is hitting .366/.428/.652 (171 wRC+) with 17 homers in 75 Triple-A games this season, though he’s playing in an extreme hitter’s park in Colorado Springs. So far this year’s hit .442/.503/.829 at home and .300/.359/.500 on the road, in all the other hitter friendly Pacific Coast League ballparks. Consider yourself forewarned: don’t read too much into the overall stat line.

The Yankees are tentatively scheduled to face four left-handed starters in the first give games of the second half, so I think there’s a decent chance the right-handed hitting Cooper will join the Yankees in Boston tomorrow for his MLB debut. They’ve been use Austin Romine as a platoon first baseman in recent weeks and no. Just no. I highly doubt the Yankees are looking at Cooper as a long-term first base solution. He’s a Tyler Austin replacement, basically.

Webb, 27 next week, has allowed three runs in six innings with the Yankees this year. He also has a 3.24 ERA (2.15 FIP) in 33.1 Triple-A innings. This was his fourth year spending time at Triple-A. The Pirates took a look at Webb as a Rule 5 Draft pick in Spring Training, and, when he didn’t stick, he cleared waivers and was returned to the Yankees. Going to the Brewers should be a pretty good opportunity for Webb.

With Webb gone and Tommy Layne recently released, the Yankees are left with Chasen Shreve as their only real lefty reliever option. (Not counting Aroldis Chapman.) There’s Joe Mantiply in Triple-A, and I guess they could give Caleb Smith or Dietrich Enns a try in relief, but that’s about it. The Yankees have been looking for a lefty reliever since the offseason and there’s no reason to think that’ll change.

The Yankees now have an open 40-man roster spot and an open 25-man roster spot, both of which could go to Cooper if he is called up. I suppose the other alternative is playing Matt Holliday, who is tentatively scheduled to come off the disabled list tomorrow, at first base and continuing the four-man outfield rotation. Hmmm. Then again, the Yankees would be playing both Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury against lefties in that scenario. We’ll see.