SIDELINE SHOUT
Daniel Jones says everything is fine after TV cameras catch receiver Kenny Golladay yelling in his direction
was good. I know the first hitter we checked on, he was at 96 (miles per hour). And it looked like that. And then even the feedback from (Tyler Wade) and (Rougned Odor) was, ‘The life was there,’” Boone said. “I thought the secondary stuff looked sharp, I thought he was actually really sharp. To have two ups there and get his volume up a little bit too was good.
“It looks like he’s pretty encouraged about it, too.”
But Severino is not the only hope as the Yankees try to clinch a playoff berth in the final 15 games of the season.
In another pregame workout, Jonathan Loaisiga played catch, the first step in his journey back from the IL with a shoulder strain.
The Yankees activated Clarke Schmidt before Friday’s game, an insurance arm for the bullpen that has shown it’s wear too often over the past few weeks. Schmidt’s arrival lines up with Corey Kluber’s start, which isn’t a coincidence. This is Kluber’s fourth start after coming off the injured list, and none of the previous three have gone more than four innings.
“Clarke’s here on his fifth day today. So, if we were to get into a situation where we need some length, or up against something early the next couple days, he could certainly serve in that role.” Boone said. “Or if we have a shorter outing.”
Domingo German is perhaps the best hope the Yankees have for an arm that can positively impact their bullpen quickly.
The right-hander was scheduled to pitch in a minor league rehab game Saturday, the final rehearsal before he is expected to be activated.
German worked out of the bullpen earlier this year, though not with much success. He had a 7.50 ERA in three relief appearances this season. Overall, though, German has been effective out of the bullpen. In 20 career appearances he has a 3.13 ERA, compared to 4.71 in 56 starts.
“Domingo, he’s worked out of the pen like this before, even this year,” Boone said. “He’s done some of these. So I’m not too worried about how he’ll handle that.”
and returned to the lineup, hitting in the two-hole behind leadoff batter Jonathan Villar, on Friday for the series opener against the Phillies at Citi Field.
Nimmo said he surprised the Mets physical therapy and training staff with his rapid recovery. To contrast, Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil both missed over a month on the IL with their respective hamstring strains back in May. Nimmo believed his strain was milder from the start, and his commitment to strength and muscle training gave him confidence that he would return after the minimum 10 days on the IL.
The team plans to keep Nimmo behind Villar in the lineup most days. Villar has been successful leading off in 48 games this season, crushing seven home runs with a .848 OPS from that position.
“The speed with Villar, Nimmo and [Francisco] Lindor [batting] third, that sequence of batters there can connect and be on base,” Rojas said. “They can create a lot of traffic for [Pete] Alonso, Conforto, [Javy] Báez, those guys, and we can score some runs. That’s how I feel and what we think.”
NOAH’S NEXT STEP
Noah Syndergaard (Tommy John rehab) will progress to a potential rehab assignment this weekend, Rojas said on Friday. The club is still debating whether he should continue facing Mets batters or make a rehab start for High-A Brooklyn or Triple-A Syracuse before he is cleared to join the roster.
The Mets expect Syndergaard to return to the club in some fashion, likely pitching out of the bullpen, before the season is over.