Stanton ready for shortened season
TAMPA, Fla. — If MLB and the union can find a way to a 2020 baseball season in the age of the coronavirus pandemic, it will obviously be unique. There will be empty stadiums and broadcasters working from studios instead of ballparks. There will be social distancing in the dugouts and the seemingly ever-present flow of tobacco and sunflower seed spit will be stopped somehow.
In a shortened season, teams will be looking for any edge and their expanded rosters and taxi squads will play into it. Here is how we see the Yankees expanded roster and taxi squad shaking out.
The Yankees may get lucky here. Back on March 11, when MLB suspended operations because of the growing national coronavirus crisis the Yankees were expecting to start the season without Giancarlo Stanton (calf ), Aaron Judge (rib fracture) and Aaron Hicks (Tommy John rehab). Nearly three months later and Stanton is reportedly ready to go. Hicks posted video of himself taking swings on both sides of the plate this week, so, barring any setback, he seems like an option at center field in July. Judge, as of May 22 still had not begun swinging a bat, so his availability is a little murkier.
But a potential Opening Day starting nine could look very close to what the Yankees had hoped for. They would have Gerrit Cole on the mound, Gary Sanchez catching, Luke Voit at first, DJ LeMahieu at second, Gio Urshela at third and Gleyber Torres at shortstop. Stanton would likely be the designated hitter.
The outfield would probably be Mike Tauchman in right field, considering no one knows if or when Judge will be available this season, Brett Gardner in center if Hicks is still on the mend or left field if Hicks is back. If the Yankees have an opening in the outfield because Hicks or Judge is not ready, it could open the door for Clint Frazier. Though the Yankees seemed awfully impressed with Miguel Andujar in left this spring and wanted to give him as many opportunities as they could there.
The two most interesting players on the bench are already in this discussion in the outfield with Andujar and Frazier. It will be interesting to see where and how the Yankees use them.
The rest of the bench would likely be led by catcher Kyle Higashioka, who the Yankees feel is a great “framing,” catcher but light hitting. Tyler Wade, who can play in the infield and the outfield, gives the Yankees speed and versatility. Mike Ford gives the heavily right-handed Yankees’ lineup a lefty power bat off the bench and a good backup in case Voit’s struggles last year were not simply related to the sports hernia he tried unsuccessfully to play through.
Obviously, this is pretty set with established starters at least to begin the season, even without Luis Severino, who will miss the year after February Tommy John surgery and Domingo German, serving a 63-game domestic violence suspension.
The Yankees picked up Cole to lead the rotation, so he’s obviously your Opening Day starter. They again catch a break with James Paxton, who was expected to miss a few months after February back surgery, already back on the mound and expected to be a go whenever a season starts. Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ will back them up and Jordan Montgomery, coming back from 2018 Tommy John surgery, made it obvious this spring he owns the fifth spot.
Still, don’t be surprised if the Yankees find a way to get their young arms mixed in there. Deivi Garcia was close to getting the call to the big leagues last season and was impressive this spring. Mike King made a short debut out of the major league bullpen last September and continues to make a case for a big league spot. While Clarke Schmidt may not be on the 40-man roster, he pitched well enough this spring that the Yankees will likely find room for him.
The Yankees see this as one of their weapons with Aroldis Chapman closing and then a back-end of highleverage arms to attack hitters like Zack Britton, Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle and Chad Green. This is where the Yankees will invest some of those extra roster spots to go along with Luis Cessa, Jonathan Holder and Jonathan Loaisiga. The Yankees also have Ben Heller, who had some back issues this spring, could contribute here if healthy.
NASCAR has a checkered racial history. From an affinity for Confederate flags among the fan base to a driver losing his job just this season for casually uttering a racial slur, the good ol’ boys have never been known for diversity.
Maybe it’s not surprising this mostly white sport seemed hesitant to join the national outrage over the death of George Floyd while in police custody — a striking contrast to its rush to be the first major sport to return during the coronavirus pandemic.
Looking toward NASCAR’s weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which will be the fourth track to stage races without fans, trucks driver Matt Crafton was asked about the protests in all 50 states and around the world demanding an end to police brutality against African Americans.
“I just try to stay off social media,” said Crafton, clearly uncomfortable with the subject. “At the end of the day, there’s a lot to talk about. I don’t try to get involved in a lot. That’s a terrible thing that happened to the gentleman in Minneapolis. But there’s a lot of things going on that I’d rather not talk about.”
Bubba Wallace, the only African American in the top-level Cup series, expressed frustration that so many drivers were reluctant to speak out.
“A few drivers — a very few — have given their opinion on the day’s matter and I appreciate that,” Wallace said on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast. “But the silence from the top drivers in our sport is beyond frustrating. Our sport has always had somewhat of a racist label to it. NASCAR — everybody thinks redneck, Confederate flag, racists — and I hate it. I hate that because I know NASCAR is so much more.”
Wallace said he encouraged other drivers to take up the cause, including rising star Chase Elliott, who won at Charlotte on May 29 and will start from the pole in Sunday’s Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500 — essentially a home race for the Georgia native.
“I said do you all not care about what’s going on in the world?” Wallace said. “That’s not the right way to go about it. Our voices carry so much more weight than Joe Schmo from down the street. I mentioned we’ve got to do better, we’ve got to step up for everybody to say what they feel.”
A.J. Allmendinger cruised to victory by nearly 2 seconds over pole-sitter Noah Gragson in the Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway to win a NASCAR oval race for the first time in his long career. “Oh my god,” Allmendinger said as he climbed from his No. 16 Chevrolet. “I won on an oval.” Allmendinger started 30th but quickly showed the strength of his car, spending much of the day running in the top 10. ... Taking advantage of a late caution, Grant Enfinger passed local favorite Austin Hill on the final lap to win the NASCAR Truck Series race in overtime at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In front of empty grandstands, Hill appeared to be cruising to his first win of the year, building a 4 1⁄2- second lead after several miscues ruined Kyle Busch’s chances of winning for the sixth time in 12 truck races in Atlanta.
Kurt Thomas, who was the first U.S. male gymnast to win a world championship gold medal in 1978, has died. He was 64. Thomas’ family said he died Friday. He had a stroke May 24, caused by a tear of the basilar artery in the brain stem.
Kevin Durant won’t play for the Nets if the NBA season resumes. “My season is over,” Durant told The Undefeated on Friday. “I don’t plan on playing at all. We decided last summer when it first happened that I was just going to wait until the following season. I had no plans of playing at all this season.” Durant ruptured an Achilles tendon a year ago for the Warriors in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Raptors. He also had COVID-19 this year. ... The NBA has told teams that playoff seeding will be based on winning percentage, and that any tiebreakers necessary after that will follow the usual procedures. It was an issue that needed clarity because the 22 teams that will be going to the Disney complex near Orlando, Fla., for the planned resumption of the season next month will not have played the same number of games.
Germany’s soccer league was marked by gestures against racism and support for the Black Lives Matter movement as Bayern Munich took another step toward a record-extending eighth straight Bundesliga title. All of Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin’s 22 outfield players took a knee in the center-circle together before the top tier’s late game with no fans present. Coaches and other team members from both sides did likewise beside the field, bringing to mind former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick’s protest before games against police brutality and racial inequality. Dortmund’s players had warmed up wearing T-shirts with slogans such as “United together,” and “No justice, no peace.” ... The Premier League announced that the sixth round of COVID-19 testing of 1,195 players and staff across the 20 clubs on Thursday and Friday produced no positives. ... Barcelona said Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has been cleared by team doctors to play when the Spanish league resumes next weekend. Suarez had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Jan. 12 and hasn’t played since.