AL East

The New York Yankees have been among the most disappointing teams in all of Major League Baseball in the early going this season, but sitting in fourth place in the American League East apparently won't preclude them from adding to the roster.

General manager Brian Cashman said New York is in "buying mode" and "open to anything and everything," per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Things have gotten particularly troublesome for the Bronx Bombers of late.

Sunday's ugly 7-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies moved their record to 5-13 in the previous 18 games. They are nine games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays and also looking up at the rival Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays in the division.

Still, a playoff run is far from out of the question.

The Yankees are just four games behind the Houston Astros for the final wild-card spot in the American League and proved they are capable of playing well when they got off to a 28-19 start that included a sweep of the Chicago White Sox and series victories over the Rays and Astros.

Yet the frustration is evident, as manager Aaron Boone told reporters he is "very concerned" with the team.

"We're going to find out what kind of character we're made of," Boone continued. "We're clearly in the midst of incredibly tough times, we've faced it throughout this season, and we're going to find out what we're made of and if we're the team we think we are. ... We need to step it up, period."

They will begin finding out with a series against the Blue Jays that starts Tuesday. They also play the American League West-leading Oakland Athletics and Red Sox in the second half of June, so things don't get much easier in the immediate future.

Nobody in Major League Baseball has as many home runs as Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s 22, and the Toronto Blue Jays slugger may treat fans to a show at the 2021 Home Run Derby.

Kaitlyn McGrath of The Athletic reported Guerrero is "leaning more to yes versus no" as he decides whether he will participate in the annual competition. This year's Home Run Derby is scheduled for July 12 at Coors Field in Denver.

The 22-year-old already has a career high in long balls and has also impressed in other areas with a .346/.451/.697 slash line and 56 RBI. His presence in the middle of the lineup is a major reason Toronto has a winning record at 33-31 and is in the middle of the American League wild-card race.

The Home Run Derby is nothing new for the Guerrero family.

Vladimir Guerrero, the 46-year-old father of the Blue Jays slugger, won the 2007 competition in San Francisco, which included launching a 503-foot home run.

Yet that victory and long homer may not even be the most memorable Home Run Derby moment for the Guerrero family. The younger Guerrero participated in the 2019 competition in Cleveland and was the star of the show even though he ultimately fell short of Pete Alonso.

Guerrero launched a record 29 home runs in the opening round and then followed with 29 more in the semifinals. It took a final-round record of 23 by Alonso to eclipse him by a single home run and take home the title.

What an incredible night from Vlad Jr..... Here's every home run he hit tonight. We might be here a while. pic.twitter.com/zRrCL6Kj0S

— Daren Willman (@darenw) July 9, 2019

Guerrero finished with 91 homers in the competition, which far surpassed Giancarlo Stanton's previous record of 61.

Perhaps there is an encore in store for 2021.

The New York Yankees entered the 2021 campaign with realistic championship aspirations, but they are in fourth place in the American League East after losing Sunday 7-0 to the Philadelphia Phillies.

"Very concerned," manager Aaron Boone told reporters when discussing his team that is now 5-13 in its last 18 games. "Obviously a couple tough losses...but not able to amount much against [Aaron] Nola, who took a lead and was on the attack and dictating counts right away. But we've got to find a way to get better."

New York is 33-32 and 8.5 games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays.

"We're going to find out what kind of character we're made of," Boone continued. "We're clearly in the midst of incredibly tough times, we've faced it throughout this season, and we're going to find out what we're made of and if we're the team we think we are. ... We need to step it up, period."

It doesn't get much easier for the Bronx Bombers.

They face the team directly ahead of them in the Toronto Blue Jays, the American League West-leading Oakland Athletics and the rival Boston Red Sox in three of the next four series. If they continue to play like they have of late, the Yankees could find themselves out of the playoff race by the All-Star Game.

The offense is a middling ninth in the American League in OPS, and Dan Martin of the New York Post noted the starting pitchers have an ugly 6.16 ERA in the past 14 games.

It was more of the same Sunday with the bats and on the mound, as the offense failed to score a run and Domingo German allowed seven earned runs and 10 hits in 4.1 innings.

Tampa Bay Rays minor leaguer Tyler Zombro is "still progressing in the right direction," according to Rays manager Kevin Cash.

Cash told reporters Zombro is able to get out of his hospital bed and walk around with some assistance.

The right-handed reliever was pitching for the Triple-A Durham Bulls on Thursday night when he took a line drive to the head. The Bulls and Norfolk Tides called the game in the eighth inning due to his injury.

Tonight's game has been postponed. pic.twitter.com/eHBU3NwCgX

— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) June 4, 2021

The Rays said Friday that Zombro remained at Duke University Hospital and that he was in stable condition.

Rays reliever Ryan Sherriff called the moment Zombro was injured "one of the most traumatic things I've ever experienced in my life."

"Very chilling," he said. "I spent my offseason with Zombro. We worked out together. And it really hit home to me after everything that I saw. I wish him the best. I wish his family the best. Just hope he is doing great."

Zombro, who attended George Mason, signed with the Rays in June 2017. He quickly rose up through the ranks and reached the Triple-A level in 2019.

Through nine appearances for the Bulls in 2021, he has a 1-1 record, nine strikeouts and a 3.18 ERA over 11.1 innings.

Boston Red Sox reliever Ryan Brasier was struck in the head by a batted ball on Friday during a simulated game at the club's spring training facility in Fort Meyers, Florida, and taken to the hospital, manager Alex Cora told reporters. 

Cora said Brasier is also in stable condition and is alert, but the next 24 hours will be "critical."

“We’re going to have more information throughout the day and tomorrow," Cora said. "From what I just ask from you guys is pray for him and your thoughts for his family.” 

Cora said he was able to text with Brasier after the incident and hopes he can recover sooner than later. 

The 33-year-old has yet to make an appearance in the major leagues this season after suffering a left calf injury late in spring training. He was scheduled to return to Boston after another simulated game before heading out on a rehab assignment in the minor leagues. 

In three seasons with the Red Sox, Brasier has tossed 114.1 innings with a 3.70 ERA, 1.163 WHIP and 120 strikeouts on 39 walks. 

“I texted with [Brasier] on the way [to Yankee Stadium] at 1:30 p.m.,” Cora said. “It’s been a tough four or five months for him. So it wasn’t a baseball text. It was just, he’s one of our guys, he’s been here for three or four years and we care about him. So we put baseball out of the equation and this is about the human being. We just want him to be healthy.”

It's the second instance of a pitcher being struck in the head in as many days after Tampa Bay Rays prospect Tyler Zombro was hit during an appearance for the Durham Bulls against the Norfolk Tides on Thursday night. Zombro was taken off the field on a stretcher and transported to Duke University Hospital for further evaluation and the game was called in the 8th inning. He remains in stable condition, however, the Bulls and Tide postponed their matchup on Friday.

After two months, only one of Major League Baseball's six divisions features four teams above the .500 mark.

It's the American League East, and it's wild.

With 16 wins in their last 17 games, the reigning American League champion Tampa Bay Rays are back atop the division. Breathing down their necks are the Boston Red Sox, who are clearly determined to make up for their last-place finish in 2020.

Yet the big surprise in the AL East is the relative mediocrity of the New York Yankees. They came into the year as a presumed World Series contender and are still in that conversation, but they've been sidetracked by injuries and a wave of losses punctuated by a three-game sweep by the lowly Detroit Tigers over Memorial Day weekend.

Though the Yankees still have four months to turn their fortunes around, the seriousness of their problems and the difficulty of the road ahead don't paint a rosy picture.

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AL East Standings

1. Tampa Bay Rays, 35-20
2. Boston Red Sox, 32-21 (2.0 GB)
   
3. New York Yankees, 29-25 (5.5 GB)
   
4. Toronto Blue Jays, 27-25 (6.5 GB)
   
5. Baltimore Orioles, 17-37 (17.5 GB)
   

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The Yankees Are Banged Up and Lack Bang on Offense

On Opening Day, FanGraphs pegged the Yankees' chances of winning the AL East at a sturdy 71.0 percent. Even as recently as May 12, they were still as high as 67.8 percent.

Now they're at 28.0 percent.

That reflects the size of the bite that the injury bug has taken out of the Yankees. They just welcomed slugger Giancarlo Stanton back from a left quad strain Friday, and now reigning MLB home run leader Luke Voit (right oblique strain), starting pitcher Corey Kluber (right shoulder strain) and center fielder Aaron Hicks (left wrist surgery) are due to miss extended time.

The Yankees staff might be able to weather the loss of Kluber. Mainly courtesy of a Cy Young Award-caliber season by $324 million ace Gerrit Cole, the club ranks first in the AL with a 3.22 ERA. And in the coming weeks, starter Luis Severino (see here) and ace reliever Zack Britton (here) are due back from their Tommy John and elbow surgeries.

However, the Yankees are shockingly deficient in other aspects of the game. Neil Paine of FiveThirtyEight wrote all about the club's issues with defense, baserunning and situational hitting, yet nothing looms as large as its baffling shortage of offensive firepower.

To wit, the Yankees are only in the middle of the pack with 62 home runs and third from the bottom with a .371 slugging percentage. You'd never know they still have many of the same members of a unit that slugged .490 with 306 home runs just two years ago.

The injuries obviously haven't helped. Nor is it helping that DJ LeMahieu and Clint Frazier are having down years after lighting things up in 2020. Then there's the curious case of Gleyber Torres, who's gone from 62 homers in his first two seasons to just five over his last two.

Yet there are also foundational issues.

For instance, the Yankees' ground-ball percentage is up 4.2 points from 2019. They're also striking out 24.9 percent of the time, compared to 23.0 percent in 2019 and 21.7 percent just last year.

The Yankees are part of a leaguewide issue in the latter regard, yet what's unique about their strikeout problem is how it derives from misses on hittable pitches. Whereas their rate of contact outside the strike zone is only down from 61.4 to 60.1 percent since 2019, their contact percentage inside the zone has fallen from 85.0 to 82.0 percent.

Even more so than manager Aaron Boone, such things ought to have Yankees hitting coach Marcus Thames on the hot seat. But even if he were to be relieved of duty, the Yankees would still have holes at first base and center field by way of Voit's and Hicks' injuries. General manager Brian Cashman may need to fill those on the trade market.

Either way, the Yankees are running out of time to be patient.

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The Rays Are Just Really Good

You only have to go back to May 12 to find a time when the Rays were a mere .500 team (19-19, to be exact) that was looking up at three clubs in the AL East.

But in the weeks since then, they've looked a lot more like the team that won an AL-high 40 games and pushed the Los Angeles Dodgers to six games in the 2020 World Series.

It's perhaps easiest to notice the Rays' excellence when they're in the field. They lead the American League in defensive runs saved and all of MLB in outs above average. And while the guys with the gloves deserve the lion's share of the credit for that, manager Kevin Cash and the club's analytics department deserve some for opponents' .198 average on ground balls against shifted or strategic infield alignments.

Though Tyler Glasnow has certainly carried the rotation with a 2.57 ERA and 98 strikeouts over 70 innings, it's also to Cash's credit that the pitching staff has withstood the offseason departures of Blake Snell and Charlie Morton as well as it has.

Even after he got roasted for his quick hook of Snell in Game 6 of the Fall Classic, Cash has stuck to his guns and limited his starters to only 4.8 innings per outing. Yet he's had a good feel for when to extend them, as the 178 instances in which they've faced a hitter for a third time in a game have yielded an AL-low .544 OPS.

On days when his starters don't go deep, Cash is liable to make up the difference by having the next guys up go more than one inning at a time. The Rays lead MLB with 62 relief appearances that resulted in more than three outs, and 51 of those also yielded one or zero earned runs.

And don't sleep on the Rays offense.

Sure, it has the second-highest strikeout rate in MLB behind only the Tigers. But it's nonetheless scoring five runs per game, and it's been one of the hottest in baseball since May 13.

That's not because the strikeouts have dissipated. It's more so because Rays hitters have been racking up walks and home runs, and many of the latter spring from a specific quality.

Since May 13, only the Red Sox and Minnesota Twins have done a better job than the Rays of pulling the ball in the sweet spot. So far this season, batted balls that match that description have a 1.396 slugging percentage.

If all this isn't a strong enough indication that the Rays are in the race to stay, consider what's become of their chances of winning the division. Since May 12, they've skyrocketed from 3.5 to 36.1 percent.

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The Red Sox Are Holding Course, And the Blue Jays Are Lingering

As the Yankees have fallen and the Rays have risen, it's perhaps been easy to lose sight of the Red Sox. But rest assured, they're still there.

Though it's been a while since the Red Sox's nine-game winning streak in April, they've continued to stay well above water with a 23-18 record over their last 41 games. They've subsisted on superb offense from J.D. Martinez, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers as well as a Matt Barnes-led bullpen that's better than it gets credit for.

With ace left-hander Chris Sale due back from Tommy John surgery sometime this summer, the Red Sox might not need to seek help on the trade market for a rotation that is paper-thin. As it is, Boston is right there with New York and Tampa Bay with a 23.2 percent chance to win the AL East.

Lest anyone think we're forgetting about them, the Toronto Blue Jays may yet crash the party.

They've been up and down, and they're about to be tested as they leave behind their hitter-friendly digs at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Florida, for more of a controlled environment at Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York. The move could squeeze a home run flow that's thus far helped pour out an AL-high 77 long balls.

On the flip side, that venue switch could be a boon to a pitching staff that has the second-best road ERA (3.57) of any AL team. And at some point, $150 million signee George Springer (right quad strain) should get healthy and help Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien carry the lineup.

At 12.7 percent, the Blue Jays' chances of winning the AL East aren't much to look at. But that's also not bad for a club that almost certainly hasn't peaked yet—and which almost certainly will eventually.

Only Baltimore Orioles fans should give up on winning the AL East. For everyone else, it's the best four-horse race in town.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs and accurate through Monday's games.

Major League Baseball announced Tuesday it is entering the NFT market with the auctioning of a 1-of-1 NFT featuring New York Yankees legend Lou Gehrig.

According to Ken Davidoff of the New York Post, MLB Executive Vice President of Business Development Kenny Gersh said: "When you think about NFTs, there is this concept of it being a fad. What we're looking to do, with the Candy [Digital] people, is to build a long-term sustainable business. What better person to symbolize durability and long-term success than Lou Gehrig?"

Specifically, the NFT will focus on Gehrig's famous "Luckiest Man" speech, which he gave at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, shortly after his ALS diagnosis.

Per Davidoff, MLB is planning to hold the auction for the Gehrig NFT around July 4, the 82nd anniversary of the Iron Horse's speech.

Davidoff noted that MLB is working with Candy Digital on the Gehrig NFT release. Candy Digital is a new digital collectible company that features executive chairman of Fanatics Michael Rubin as one of its heads.

Rubin said: "For me, I'm thinking long term: How do we take a league like Major League Baseball, with its tremendous legacy and history, so much content and [take it into the world of digital assets]? We could do NFTs for jerseys, for so much more. We haven't scratched the surface yet."

Given that the Gehrig NFT marks the start of MLB's entry into the market and that it is a 1-of-1, it figures to go for huge money at auction.

The winning bid on the will go entirely to charity with the Healey Center for ALS, the ALS Association and the Lou Gehrig Society all receiving some of it.

Even 80 years after his untimely death at the age of 37 in 1941, Gehrig is still considered one of the greatest players in baseball history.

During his 17-year MLB career, all of which was spent with the Yanks, Gehrig was a six-time World Series champion and two-time American League MVP. He also held the record of 2,130 consecutive games played before it was broken by Cal Ripken Jr.

Gehrig was a .340 hitter during his illustrious career with 493 home runs, 1,995 RBI, 1,888 runs scored and 2,721 hits.

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge called the performance of the team's offense "unacceptable" after the Bronx Bombers were swept by the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.

Judge told reporters he expects things to improve but said, "You just can't keep coming to the plate trying to do the same thing expecting different results."

Aaron Judge remains confident that the Yankees' offense will turn it around:

"I've seen each guy at their best at some point in their career... it's gonna come, but what we've putting out there right now is not our best and it's unacceptable" pic.twitter.com/IZLmedjWqJ

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 30, 2021

With Sunday's 6-2 loss, New York has dropped five of its last six, scoring 10 runs during that span. Rather than a blip unfolding over recent days, the offensive woes have been a season-long problem.

According to FanGraphs, the Yankees are 24th in slugging percentage (.374), 16th in weighted on-base average (.307) and 15th in weighted runs created plus (97).

https://twitter.com/lindseyadler/status/1398780066507767809

Judge (.962 OPS) and Giancarlo Stanton (.850 OPS) are largely delivering at the plate. They have been the outliers, however, which is where the trouble arises for New York.

DJ LeMahieu is slugging .344, on pace to be his worst over a full season. Gary Sanchez and Mike Ford are batting .190 and .140, respectively. Rougned Odor hasn't benefited much from the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium, with his five home runs failing to offset 26 strikeouts in 102 plate appearances. Clint Frazier is going backward and slugging .305 after an encouraging 2020 season.

Regressing to the mean isn't always a bad thing, and you'd expect proven contributors such as LeMahieu, Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela to turn things around.

"It’s been a little inconsistent; I feel like it’s how we’ve been all year," LeMahieu told reporters Saturday. "We’ve put ourselves in good position, the pitchers have done a really good job. I think we’re all still waiting for that breakout series offensively, a breakout week, but I know we’re grinding and competing."

The Yankees are 24th in batting average on balls in play (.281), per FanGraphs, so a little more good luck could have a corollary effect on their performance. 

But Judge referenced how improvement doesn't happen in a vacuum.

The Toronto Blue Jays have launched an investigation into a second sexual misconduct allegation against Roberto Alomar, who was fired from his jobs with both the Jays and MLB in early May for a violation of league policy after a probe into a prior allegation.

Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star reported Friday that Melissa Verge, who was an 18-year-old volunteer at a Blue Jays youth baseball camp at the time of her interaction with a 46-year-old Alomar in 2014, said he "propositioned her for sex and, after offering her a private clubhouse tour, pressed his body against hers without her consent."

After she pulled away from him and began to walk away, he caught up with her, put his arm around her and gave her his phone number before asking her to keep the interaction private. The next day, he invited her to his hotel suite for "some kissing and some loving."

Verge told Kennedy she informed team executive Rob Jack about the interactions with Alomar, who was a camp instructor, but there's no evidence the details were shared with anyone else in the organization. Jack was a close friend of Alomar. 

Verge's then-boyfriend and a former professor both confirmed to the Star Verge had told them of her experience with Alomar shortly afterward.

The club released a statement saying it was "troubled to learn about Ms. Verge's experience in 2014 involving Roberto Alomar and another former employee. Since we were made aware of the incident by the Toronto Star, we have commenced an internal investigation using an outside firm."

Verge told Kennedy she previously decided against going public with details of the interaction with Alomar, but the other allegation against him "opened the door for me to be able to share my story," and she's hopeful her story does the same for other women.

"I hope they can speak out and speak up for what's right and hopefully not let men who are in positions of power take advantage of them," she said.

Jack, who served as the Jays' manager of social marketing, was fired after the 2015 season. No reason was given for his termination. He's since worked for Alomar Sports Inc.

Paul Beeston, who was the team's president at the time of the allegations against Alomar, declined comment about the Star story.

Alomar released a statement after he was fired by the Jays and MLB:

https://twitter.com/Robbiealomar/status/1388181908027330561

Neither he nor Jack responded to the Toronto Star's requests for comment.

He'd worked as a special assistant for Toronto and as a consultant focused on helping grow the sport in his native Puerto Rico for the league.

Before his executive career, Alomar was a 12-time All-Star and two-time World Series champion during a 17-year playing career that included stops with seven teams. He was inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2011.

New York Yankees starter Corey Kluber will miss an extended period of time due to a shoulder injury. 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone announced on Wednesday that Kluber won't throw for four weeks after being diagnosed with a subscapularis muscle strain.  

Boone added Kluber will seek a second opinion on the injury.

On May 19 against the Texas Rangers, Kluber became the first Yankees pitcher to throw a no-hitter since David Cone's perfect game in July 1999. The three-time All-Star left his next start against the Toronto Blue Jays after three innings with tightness in his right shoulder. 

Kluber has been a pleasant surprise for the Yankees this season after signing a one-year contract in January. The two-time American League Cy Young winner has a 3.04 ERA and 55 strikeouts over 53.1 innings through 10 starts. 

Injuries were a problem for Kluber over the past two seasons. He threw a combined 36.2 innings between 2019 and 2020 due to fractured right arm, abdominal tightness and a torn teres major muscle in his right shoulder. 

The Yankees don't have much pitching depth behind Gerrit Cole, so losing Kluber for any length of time is going to be a problem for manager Aaron Boone. Domingo German will be counted on to continue his strong play, but the offense can carry the load for the team whenever Cole isn't on the mound.