Connect with us

Published

on

Brian Cashman appreciates that World Series titles are expected from the New York Yankees, not just hoped for.

New York hasn’t even reached the World Series since its 27th championship in 2009, the second-longest drought in franchise history. The only longer one came in the Yankees’ first 18 years, from 1903 to 1920.

“We have a great shot, but we only have a great shot if we play our best baseball,” the general manager said Thursday ahead of an AL Division Series against Kansas City. “I know that we have the capabilities, but at the same time I caution that we’ve had capabilities many times before and you have to match those capabilities with, obviously, great defense, great baserunning, tremendous offensive at-bats against extremely tough pitching and, obviously, the most important aspect is pitching to the best of your abilities.”

After missing the playoffs last year for the first time since 2016, the Yankees rebounded following the December acquisition of Juan Soto from San Diego. They led the AL in runs with 815 after finishing 25th in 2023 and topped the major leagues in home runs with 237.

“I do honestly believe that anybody that’s currently in the tournament has a legitimate chance to raise that trophy,” Cashman said. “I think we have the pieces that are here and we have the will to make it happen, and now we just got to go up against an opponent that’s very worthy.”

Reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole (8-5) starts Saturday night’s opener for New York after recovering from elbow nerve irritation and edema that sidelined him from spring training until June 19.

Michael Wacha (13-8) starts for Royals. He has held Yankees star Aaron Judge to 1 for 18 with three walks and no homers in his career.

“I’m chalking this up to small sample and I’ll take Aaron Judge against just about anyone on any day,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “but we know Wacha is a tough customer. He’s always pitched us tough and we know we got our work cut out for us.”

New York beat Kansas City in the 1977 and ’78 AL Championship Series en route to World Series titles, and the Royals swept the Yankees in 1980 — leading George Steinbrenner to force out manager Dick Howser. The following summer, Howser took over as Royals manager and led Kansas City to its first World Series title in 1985.

New York won three of four at Kansas City in June, losing the series finale on Maikel Garcia‘s two-run double against Clay Holmes. The Yankees took two of three in the Bronx last month, losing the middle game when Seth Lugo and two relievers combined on a three-hit shutout for the Royals.

Kansas City swept Baltimore in a two-game Wild Card Series while the Yankees won the AL East and earned a first-round bye and a five-day layoff. The Royals are led by Bobby Witt Jr., likely to finish second to Judge in AL MVP voting, nine-time All-Star catcher Salvador Perez and a rotation that includes Wacha, Lugo and Game 2 starter Cole Ragans.

Reliever Lucas Erceg was acquired from Oakland at the July 30 trade deadline, and the 29-year-old right-hander had 11 saves in 13 chances for the Royals, striking out 31 and walking three in 25 innings. His fastball averages 98.6 mph.

“From early in the season ’til now, their bullpen has improved,” Boone said. “They’ve had a couple guys emerge down there and then obviously bringing in Erceg to anchor them has taken their bullpen to another level.”

Cashman said the Yankees are still deciding on their final roster moves heading into the ALDS, with right-hander Marcus Stroman’s status still up in the air.

“We haven’t made that final call yet,” he said. “Marcus threw in the sim [simulation] game yesterday, he threw two innings, so we’re trying to keep him with some volume and stretched out. I don’t expect him to be a starter in this series. As for what role we haven’t made that call yet.”

Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo remains doubtful for the Division Series after fracturing the fourth and fifth fingers of his right hand when he was hit by a pitch from Pittsburgh’s Ryan Borucki on Saturday.

“He’s full-bore treatment mode right now,” Cashman said, “A very tight window of healing to take place. … A lot less pain than you would expect and more strength to the squeeze than you would expect given what he’s gone through but he has not been doing baseball activity as of yet.”

Ben Rice and Oswaldo Cabrera are the primary alternatives at first.

DJ LeMahieu, who also plays first, has been sidelined since Sept. 3 because of a right hip impingement.

“He’s started to do things, Cashman said. “The time frame for him a little bit difficult.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

L.A.’s Glasnow joins Snell on IL with similar injury

Published

on

By

L.A.'s Glasnow joins Snell on IL with similar injury

LOS ANGELES — Tyler Glasnow was put on the injured list Monday with what the Los Angeles Dodgers described as shoulder inflammation, joining fellow frontline starter Blake Snell, who has been sidelined by a similar injury.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Glasnow’s right shoulder is structurally sound but is also dealing with what Roberts called “overall body soreness.”

Glasnow gave up back-to-back homers in Sunday’s first inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, then was removed from the game after experiencing discomfort while warming up for the second. Afterward, Glasnow expressed frustration at his constant string of injuries and speculated that his latest ailment might stem from the mechanical adjustments he made to improve the health of his elbow.

Glasnow sat out the 2½ months of last season — including the playoffs — with what was initially diagnosed as an elbow sprain, a big reason why the Dodgers were relegated to only three starting pitchers in their march toward a World Series title. Now, he is one of eight starting pitchers on the Dodgers’ injured list.

One of those arms, Tony Gonsolin, will be activated Wednesday to make his first major league start in 20 months. But the Dodgers are short enough on pitching that they’ll have to stage a bullpen game the day before.

“Pitching is certainly volatile,” said Roberts, who added journeyman right-hander Noah Davis to the roster in Glasnow’s place. “We experienced it last year and essentially every year. I think the thing that’s probably most disconcerting is the bullpen leading Major League Baseball in innings. When you’re talking about the long season, the starters are built up to go take those innings down. That’s sort of where my head is at as far as trying to make sure we don’t redline these guys in the pen.”

Dodgers relievers entered Monday’s series opener against the Miami Marlins having accumulated 121⅓ innings, 7⅔ more than the Chicago White Sox, who are already on a 122-loss pace.

Glasnow and Snell aren’t expected to be out for a prolonged period, but their timetables are uncertain. Clayton Kershaw could return before the end of May, but Shohei Ohtani might not serve as a two-way player until after the All-Star break. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki could temporarily assume a traditional five-day schedule, as opposed to the once-a-week routine they’ve been following, but the Dodgers have only four starting pitchers on their active roster.

Glasnow, 31, is in his 10th year in the big leagues but has never compiled more than 134 innings in a season, a mark he set last year. The Dodgers acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays and subsequently signed him to a five-year, $136.56 million extension in December 2023 with the thought that his injury issues might be behind him.

“Tyler said it — very frustrating,” Roberts said. We’re just trying to get to the bottom of it.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Altuve asks out of Astros’ top spot, then homers

Published

on

By

Altuve asks out of Astros' top spot, then homers

HOUSTON — Jose Altuve asked manager Joe Espada to move him out of the leadoff spot and into the second hole for the Houston Astros. The reason? He wanted more time to get to the dugout from left field.

Altuve hit a two-run homer in the Astros’ 8-5 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday while playing left in 2025 for the first time in his career after spending his first 14 MLB seasons at second base. “I just need like 10 more seconds,” he said.

The 34-year-old Altuve made the transition to the outfield this season after the trade of Kyle Tucker and the departure of Alex Bregman shook up Houston’s lineup.

Jeremy Peña batted in the leadoff spot for Monday night’s game and went 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Altuve didn’t suggest that Peña be the one to take his leadoff spot, and on Monday, he had two hits and three RBIs while batting second for the first time since 2023.

“I just told Joe that maybe he can hit me second some games at some point, and he did it today,” Altuve said. “I just need like that little extra time to come from left field, and he decided to put Jeremy [there].”

Peña is hitting .265 with three homers and 11 RBIs. He batted first in Sunday’s 7-3 win over Kansas City — with Altuve getting a day off — and had two hits and three RBIs. He added two more hits and scored twice Monday.

“I enjoy playing baseball,” Altuve said. “I love playing, especially with these guys. I like being in the lineup. In the end it doesn’t really matter if I play second or left, if I lead off or not. I just want to be in the lineup and help this team to win.”

Along with giving him a little extra time to get ready to bat, Altuve thinks the athletic Peña batting leadoff could boost a lineup that has struggled at times this season.

“Jeremy is one of those guys that has been playing really good for our team,” Altuve said. “He’s taking really good at-bats. He’s very explosive and dynamic on the bases, so when he gets on base a lot of things can happen. Maybe I can bunt him over so Yordan [Alvarez] can drive him in.”

Altuve is a nine-time All-Star. The 2017 AL MVP is hitting .282 with four homers and 12 RBIs this season.

Espada said that he and Altuve often share ideas about the team and that they had been talking about this as a possibility for a while before he made the move.

“He’s always looking for ways to get everyone involved, and he’s playing left field, comes in, maybe give him a little bit more time to get ready between at-bats, just a lot of things that went into this decision,” Espada said. “He’s been around, he knows himself better than anyone else here, so hopefully this could create some opportunities for everyone here, and we can score some runs.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Lightning’s Hagel leaves G4 loss after high hit

Published

on

By

Lightning's Hagel leaves G4 loss after high hit

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel left his team’s 4-2 loss to the host Florida Panthers in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series on Monday night after a high hit from defenseman Aaron Ekblad that wasn’t penalized.

With less than 9 minutes left in the second period, Hagel played the puck out of the Tampa Bay zone near the boards. Ekblad skated in on him and delivered a hit with his right forearm that made contact with Hagel’s head, shoving him down in the process.

The back of Hagel’s head hit the ice. He was pulled from the game for concussions concerns. Ekblad did not receive a penalty on the play.

The Lightning trailed the Panthers 1-0 at the time of the hit, but Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak scored two goals in 11 seconds after Hagel left the game to give Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead. When the teams returned for the third period, Hagel was not on the bench.

The Panthers rallied in the third, as Ekblad, Seth Jones and Carter Verhaeghe scored to give Florida a 3-1 series lead. Game 5 is in Tampa on Wednesday.

Game 4 saw Hagel return to the Tampa Bay lineup after he served a one-game suspension for interference on Florida captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2. The NHL ruled the Barkov wasn’t eligible to be hit and that Hagel made head contact with him. It was the first suspension of this career.

Hagel was one of the best two-way wingers in the league this season, with 35 goals and 55 assists in 82 games for the Lightning.

Continue Reading

Trending