Yankees general manager Brian Cashman met with reporters on Thursday afternoon to provide some health updates and discuss the club’s early deadline outlook (links via Chris Kirschner of The Athletic and Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). The most notable update is that Aaron Judge is expected to go for his first round of re-imaging on his fractured rib during the All-Star Break.
It has been six weeks since Judge went on the injured list. He’d played through the injury throughout May, and it’s believed he suffered it on a diving play on April 26. At the time of the IL placement, the Yankees announced it’d be 4-6 weeks before the three-time MVP could go for further testing. Cashman said today the Yankees don’t anticipate the fracture will be fully healed, merely hoping that it’s showing progress. That’d allow Judge to expand his upper body work.
It’s clearly still going to be a long process even if the test results are encouraging. Cashman reiterated that the Yankees anticipate Judge will be back at some point this year. They’ve otherwise been hesitant to specify a timeline until they see how the fracture is healing.
New York has gone 15-19 since Judge went on the shelf. Paul Goldschmidt was their only productive hitter in June. He’s ice cold now but Ben Rice has gone back on a tear to carry the lineup in July. Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe and Jasson Domínguez have all slumped of late. Austin Wells hasn’t produced at the plate all season.
There’s nevertheless enough talent that the Yankees are probably comfortable with seven or eight lineup spots. Rice, Chisholm, Bellinger and Trent Grisham are all locked in. They’re not going to trade for a right fielder when they expect Judge back. Even though Ryan McMahon hasn’t been great, the third base market is thin enough that it’d be tough to find a clear upgrade. Goldschmidt has had a strong enough season overall to keep him as the regular designated hitter while Giancarlo Stanton works back from calf injuries.
That leaves shortstop and catcher as the two positions in flux. It’s a day-by-day situation at shortstop, where skipper Aaron Boone divides playing time between Volpe and José Caballero. The Yankees haven’t gotten anything offensively from their catching group of Wells, Ali Sánchez and J.C. Escarra. It’s no secret they’re looking to upgrade there, ideally with a right-handed bat.
Cashman praised the catchers’ defensive contributions but called their production at the plate “an issue, clearly. … On the offensive side, it’s been a struggle, and it’s a surprise. We feel like we have players capable of a lot more. I recognize and acknowledge how difficult this game can be, and so it’s become an area of concern, clearly, when it wasn’t expected to be.”
The Yankees have been linked to Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers, who could make his return from hamate surgery as soon as tomorrow. Tyler Stephenson, Jonah Heim, Joey Bart, Jake Rogers and old friend Kyle Higashioka are potential fallback targets. Hunter Goodman or Shea Langeliers would be the prizes of the market if they’re surprisingly made available by the Rockies or A’s, respectively.
Catcher and high-leverage relief are the expected deadline priorities for Cashman and his staff. It seems less likely they’ll go outside the organization for a shortstop. Top prospect George Lombard Jr. is nearing a return from the Triple-A injured list after suffering a finger sprain on his left hand. Cashman said the Yankees are keeping the door open for the 21-year-old to make his MLB debut before the end of the season.
“Looking forward to getting him back and active, and he might be a choice at some point,” Cashman said of the 2023 first-round pick. “More importantly, we just got to get him playing again and turning him loose again in Triple A. Really talented player that, offensively, was coming a long way of closing the gap despite his age. Defensively, he’s plug-and-play, ready to go.”
Lombard opened the season in Double-A, where he raked over 20 games to earn a promotion to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre by the end of April. He owns a .231/.381/.385 line with four homers in 42 contests with the RailRiders. It’s an unimpressive batting average, but Lombard hasn’t chased outside the strike zone and has posted strong batted ball metrics.
With Lombard looming, it’s unsurprising that Jon Heyman of The New York Post writes that the Yankees don’t appear to be prioritizing shortstop at the deadline. Heyman reports that New York could be in the rotation mix along with their obvious targets behind the plate and at the back of the bullpen.
That’d be in response to losing Carlos Rodón to elbow inflammation last week, though they’re still better positioned than most contenders in terms of starting pitching. Max Fried and Rodón are potential late-season reinforcements behind a group that already has Gerrit Cole, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren and Ryan Weathers. Weathers and Warren are vulnerable to the home run ball and the former could have some workload questions down the stretch. If the Yankees were to add a back-end starter, they could consider moving Weathers to the bullpen leading up to the postseason.
