In odd spot as Yank fans boo his old team
that they need to express. I mean, it is what it is,” Cole said when asked how he felt about the crowd riding Jose Altuve all night. “I think as players just our job is to try to do our job really the best we can and not listen to the crowd, whether it be good or bad. The environment was hostile and emotional. I don’t expect that to change in the next few games, certainly. In a sense, it is what it is and we’ll have to deal with it.”
Cole will have a chance to be on the field for it Thursday, when he faces his former teammates for the first time.
“It’s a bit weird,” Cole said of preparing to face his former teammates.
“You don’t want to give the opposition too much credit, because you don’t want to pitch timidly or go against some of your strengths but at the same time….. I mean, Michael (Brantley) can cover any pitch in the strike zone. Altuve can cover pretty much any pitch you throw in that goes the same with Yuli (Gurriel). Bregman is not going to deviate from his approach. Carlos is always a factor in big situations. And, I mean, we saw Yordan (Alvarez’s) potential when he was a rookie carrying us through the postseason.
“Still, I mean, there’s there’s a lot of talent, so I’m not going to be too hard on myself in terms of if I don’t execute a pitch and I get punished,” Cole said. “And there’s a lot of talent and a lot of good approaches. So I’m gonna have no other no other choice but to be on top of my game and try to pound the strike zone.”
ODOR OUT
After a collision at the plate Tuesday night, Rougned Odor was placed on the 10-day injured list on Wednesday with a left knee sprain. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said they feel like they dodged serious injury, but was waiting for a final diagnosis from team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad.
“He does have that minor sprain.
I think all things considered, we kind of lucked out. I think you saw my reaction jump out on the field because it looked ugly to me right away,’’ Boone said of the collision with Astros catcher Martin Maldanado. “And I was pretty concerned. So I think it’s going to be on the shorter side. I don’t want to speculate until Dr. Ahmad kind of gives that prognosis but I don’t think it’s going to be something that’s too long.”
The Yankees recalled right-handed pitcher Albert Abreu to take Odor’s spot. Wednesday night, Boone had Mike Ford in the lineup at first, allowing DJ LeMahieu to move back to second base. The
Yankees already have Tyler Wade on the bench to cover second if they need it.
“Wade could get in there some. Again, that’ll be kind of the day by day decision. Obviously, I like what Tyler brings in his versatility off the bench,” Boone said. “Maybe in the next week, we’ll have Luke (Voit) in the mix. So you know that that changes the dynamic a little bit, but it’ll be day by day based on matchup based on need and things like that.”
Voit was scheduled to play his second rehab game on Wednesday night, the first time playing in the field, after surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus in his left knee.