The New York Yankees have one of the game's biggest superstars in Aaron Judge, and he's in the midst of an MVP-caliber season...
Giancarlo Stanton Placed on Yankees' IL with Ankle Injury
May 25, 2022
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 21: Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees singles during the third inning against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium on May 21, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
The New York Yankees have placed Giancarlo
Stanton on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain.
Stanton's move to the IL was one of several roster transactions in the Bronx on Wednesday:
• Placed RHP Jonathan Loáisiga on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to 5/23) with right shoulder inflammation. • Placed DH/OF Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list with a right calf strain. • Designated C Rob Brantly for assignment.
After Wednesday night's game against the Baltimore Orioles, manager Aaron Boone told reporters the injury was in fact ankle inflammation, not a calf injury.
Stanton exited a May 24 game against
the Baltimore Orioles with the aforementioned calf injury. Estevan Florial took over for Stanton in the lineup.
The 32-year-old slugger, a four-time
All-Star, has been putting together another strong season when
healthy. He's posted a .862 OPS with 11 home runs through 40
appearances to help lead the Yanks to a 30-13 record.
Stanton's 35 homers last season marked
the sixth time he's surpassed the 30-HR mark, highlighted by 59 in
2017 en route to the NL MVP Award while with the Miami
Marlins.
He's split time between designated
hitter and right field for New York in 2022. An absence creates more playing time for multiple reserves, including Marwin Gonzalez
and Miguel Andujar, who is starting in left field Wednesday against Baltimore. Joey Gallo is back off the COVID-19 IL and serving as the designated hitter.
The Yankees feature one of MLB's
deepest lineups, which gives the club a chance to overcome any
short-term injuries, but Stanton's availability will be important
over the long haul as they attempt to hunt down their first
championship since 2009.
Aaron Judge's Pursuit of Yankees History Should Be Taken Seriously
May 25, 2022
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 23: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees follows through on his fifth inning two run home run against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on May 23, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
We're a quarter of the way through the 2022 Major League Baseball season, and Aaron Judge continues to make it impossible to look away from him.
Really the only thing that's changed is the focus of the attention on Judge. Back on Opening Day, it was on his unsuccessful contract negotiations with the New York Yankees. Now it's where it rightfully belongs: on all the baseballs that he's pulverizing.
After collecting what's already his fourth multi-home run game of the season Monday, the 6'7", 282-pound right fielder's home run tally stands at a league-leading 17 through 41 games. No other hitter has more than 12 home runs.
This, folks, may be Yankees franchise history in the making:
If it seems like someone is missing here, you're probably thinking of Roger Maris' 1961 season.
That would be the one in which he didn't record his 17th home run until the Yankees' 49th game on June 7. He nonetheless went on to hit 61 homers, topping Babe Ruth's 60 from 1927 to claim the major league record for home runs in a single season.
Maris' 61 blasts from '61 still stand as the Yankees' club record for a season. And because both shot way past Maris in the thick of MLB's Steroid Era, some will argue that neither Mark McGwire's 70 home runs from 1998 nor Barry Bonds' 73 from 2001 represent the "true" home run record for all of Major League Baseball.
We'll get to that, but first things first. If we're going to dive into the possibility of Judge matching or even surpassing Maris, we must begin by acknowledging that the merits of his pursuit are nothing if not compelling.
How Judge Is Chasing Maris
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 23: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees follows through on his first inning home run against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium on May 23, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
There might be someone out there who knows nothing about Judge but is aware of everything else about what's going on in baseball in 2022. If so, they're probably very confused by how one guy could be hitting so many home runs in a season like this one.
It's no secret that home runs are way down after spiking to record-setting levels between 2017 and 2021. This isn't coincidental. The only ball in circulation is the one that MLB intentionally deadened ahead of the '21 campaign, and there are also humidors at every stadium now. Previously, only 10 stadiums had them.
Because of these factors, Judge is working at a disadvantage relative to his first six seasons with the Yankees, across which he hit 158 home runs over 572 games.
Relative to the one Maris played in back in 1961, however, Judge actually has a slight leg up in this season's home run-hitting environment:
1961: 0.95 HR/G
2022: 0.99 HR/G
As for how Judge is also ahead of Maris' pace from '61, I covered the basics less than two weeks ago. The big one is that Judge is hitting the ball really hard, relative to his own lofty standards. His average exit velocity, hard-hit percentage and barrel rate are higher than ever, and he even has more expected home runs (18.2) than actual home runs.
I also touched on Judge's swing decisions, but perhaps inadequately in retrospect. Whereas I focused on how Judge has been taking wiser hacks at breaking balls, Yankees ace Gerrit Cole hinted at a more holistic approach with these comments to reporters on Monday:
“Sometimes I feel like he’s salivating for something, gets it, and drills it. And sometimes I feel like he’s just being a good baseball player, staying up the middle, and drills it the same way. Not all the things are going his way; he’s not looking for slug all the time. He’s just putting better swings than guys are throwing. He’s just—better.”
The telling part here is Cole's perspective on how Judge is "putting better swings than guys are throwing." A telling illustration is this home run off Chicago White Sox reliever Kendall Graveman from Sunday, in which Judge turned on a 97 mph sinker that was running in on his hands:
In no way, shape or form was that a bad pitch by Graveman. Even setting aside its velocity and movement, it was in a good location to boot—inside, but not too inside.
Judge is seeing more pitches like that in 2022, with 44.5 percent of all pitchers' offerings to him ending up in the "shadow" of the strike zone. It's to his credit that he's adjusted accordingly, as 3.9 percent of his swings in the "shadow" area are producing home runs.
That may not sound like much, but it's twice as high as the 1.9 percent of shadow swings that Judge turned into home runs when he launched a then-rookie-record 52 long balls in 2017. In essence, he's now twice as good at hitting pitchers' pitches.
That effectively leaves pitchers without a safe way to try to get Judge out. And lest anyone is thinking that pitchers should just start walking him more often, the complication there is similar to that of just putting Maris on in '61.
Just as Maris was protected by Mickey Mantle that year, Judge has Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton backing him up this year. Protection like that could explain why Judge is seeing more pitches in the strike zone and taking fewer walks than he did in 2021.
Let's Not Bicker About MLB's 'True' Home Run Record
New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris poses at Yankee Stadium on the final day of the regulars season, Oct. 1, 1961, with a jersey indicating he hit his 61st home run, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season record. (AP Photo)
If Judge ultimately does best Maris' club record of 61 home runs, he might have at least one teammate in his corner willing to argue that he should also be crowned the new single-season home run king for MLB.
This is assuming that Giancarlo Stanton's mind hasn't changed from 2017. As he was pursuing his own 60-homer season for the Miami Marlins that year, Dave Hyde of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel asked Stanton if he believed that Maris' 61 homers from 1961 was baseball's legitimate home run record and got an interesting response.
"Considering some things, I do," Stanton said, adding: "But at the same time, it doesn't matter. The record is the record. But, personally, I do [think 61 is the record]."
A bit self-serving, perhaps, but certainly not an unpopular opinion.
The anger that people still feel toward McGwire, Bonds and other steroid-era stars isn't exclusive to fans. Hall of Famers don't want confirmed or suspected juicers in Cooperstown, and the voters have been eminently willing to oblige. Neither McGwire nor Bonds got voted in despite their obviously worthy statistical credentials.
Yet, at least until Bonds' 73 and McGwire's 70—not to mention McGwire's 65 from 1999 and each of Sammy Sosa's 60-homer seasons from 1998, 1999 and 2001—are officially stricken from the record, all this is academic. So, too, is any discussion about asterisks.
As Mike Axisa of CBS Sports argued in the wake of Stanton's comments, you could hypothetically put an asterisk next to any home run record. Indeed, Maris' record did have an asterisk for decades on account of how he benefited from a longer season (162 games) than Ruth (154 games) when he hit 60 in '27.
Meanwhile, Ruth played against only seven other teams in a non-integrated era.
There's perhaps an argument that Judge doesn't have any notable advantages in this year's pursuit. In addition to the ball-related challenges, there's the reality that basically every pitcher throws over 95 mph and also that he rarely gets to see the same pitcher more than twice in a given day.
The counter-argument here is that Judge is playing in the thick of baseball's information age and all the benefits that come with it. He has access to all the videos and scouting reports that he could ask for. His improvement against shadow pitches, for example, might not be an intuitive adjustment but a deliberate one based on the data.
So rather than go on about what the "true" or "real" home run records are, this matter is best kept simple. By chasing Maris' 61 home runs, Judge is pursuing the Yankees' single-season record. And that's good enough.
No, seriously. It really is.
Even setting aside the other things—27 World Series championships, etc.—that make the Yankees special, no team has ever dingered like them. Not by a long shot, as the club's 16,594 home runs are 1,894 more than any other team.
That's not because the Yankees have been around longer than most teams. It's because a lot of great home run hitters have come through the Bronx over the years. To claim this particular franchise's single-season home run record is to claim one of the great prizes in all of baseball.
Besides, Maris Isn't the Only Yankee Great Judge Is Pursuing
Babe Ruth the Yankee slugger, photographed as he smacked out his first home run in the Yanks, athletics game at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, April 12, 1932. Ruth Garnered two homeruns and Gehrig also poled two four hits as the yanks defeated the athletic. (AP Photo)
Far be it from me to suggest that a hitter's OPS+ is as sexy as his home run count, but Judge's 211 OPS+ is still worth a good, long gander.
It may only be the second-best mark in baseball, but it puts him in rarefied air the likes of which only three Yankees have ever breathed before him: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle.
It perhaps goes without saying that Judge has his work cut out for him here, but, well, he has his work cut out for him here.
He's not avoiding strikeouts (26.2 K%) or taking walks (11.0 BB%) like Ruth, Gehrig and Mantle were able to in their heydays, so the only way he's going to keep his OPS+ this far above the 200 threshold—a place where no hitter has ended up in after a full 162-game season since Bonds in 2004—is if he continues to make the most of his batted balls.
Fortunately for Judge, that's a "no notes" situation.
It's good enough that he's batting .462 and slugging 1.019 when he makes contact, yet even better than his expected average and expected slugging percentage are at .469 and 1.134. The former is the best such mark that any hitter has achieved since Statcast's debut in 2015, and only Joey Gallo's 2019 season is keeping Judge from also holding the top spot for the latter.
The plain English version of all this is that Judge really is mashing as much as it seems like he is. The longer he keeps it up, the better his chances of rubbing shoulders with the greatest hitters the Yankees have ever known.
Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton Exits vs. Orioles with Calf Injury
May 25, 2022
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 01: Giancarlo Stanton #27 of the New York Yankees in action against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on October 01, 2021 in New York City. Tampa Bay Rays defeated the New York Yankees 4-3. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
New York Yankees star Giancarlo Stanton exited Tuesday's game against the Baltimore Orioles with right calf tightness, the team announced.
Outfielder Estevan Florial pinch hit for Stanton in the seventh inning as the star slugger did not return.
So far this season, Stanton hasn't missed a beat in helping the Yankees climb to first in the American League East. Through 39 games, he's slugging .530 with 11 homers and a 155 OPS+, per Baseball Reference.
The Bronx Bombers have boasted one of MLB's best offenses. They rank third in wOBA (.326) and second in wRC+ (118), according to FanGraphs.
Whereas losing Stanton for any stretch of time would be a major blow for most teams, New York can still lean on Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu in the top half of the order. Josh Donaldson has also rebounded from a slow start to look like an elite offensive player again.
Yankees' Aroldis Chapman Placed on IL with Achilles Injury Diagnosed as Tendinitis
May 24, 2022
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - SEPTEMBER 26: Relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman #54 of the New York Yankees looks on before pitching in the bottom ninth inning of the game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on September 26, 2021 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
The New York Yankees announced Tuesday that they placed closer Aroldis Chapman on the 15-day injured list because of left Achilles tendinitis.
Chapman made his seventh All-Star Game in 2021 but had a year to forget by his usual standards. The southpaw notched 30 saves and finished with a career-high 3.99 FIP, per Baseball Reference. He also averaged 6.1 walks per nine innings, his highest figure since 2011.
The trend is continuing into 2022.
Through 17 appearances, Chapman has registered nine saves and a 4.96 FIP. His 9.6 strikeouts and 6.4 walks per nine innings are on pace to be well off his usual averages.
Beyond the fact that he's on the wrong side of 30 (34), Chicago White Sox star Tim Anderson pointed to one reason Chapman may not be as lights-out on the mound anymore. The supreme velocity on which he has relied is no longer exceptional.
Still, Chapman is the most experienced closer on the Bronx Bombers as they chase an American League East title. If he's forced to miss any action, Clay Holmes might have to handle ninth-inning duties.
Yankees' Aaron Judge: Josh Donaldson's Racist Remark Wasn't 'Right Thing to Do There'
May 24, 2022
BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 19: New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) in action during the New York Yankees game versus the Baltimore Orioles on May 19, 2022 at Orioles Park at Camden Yards, in Baltimore, MD. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge believes teammate Josh Donaldson made a mistake when he called Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson "Jackie" in reference to Jackie Robinson.
"Joke or not, I just don't think it's the right thing to do there," Judge told reporters following Monday's 6-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
Aaron Judge's reaction to the Josh Donaldson incident from Saturday
Major League Baseball announced it suspended Donaldson for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount for the comment. The third baseman is appealing the punishment.
Donaldson made the comment during Saturday's game between the White Sox and Yankees.
Anderson said it was "disrespectful," while Chicago manager Tony La Russa called it racist:
Tim Anderson says Josh Donaldson made a "disrespectful comment" referring to him as "Jackie [Robinson]" and agreed with manager Tony La Russa that it was racist.
Donaldson told reporters he was joking and that it was something he teased Anderson about in the past. He explained it was a reference to Anderson's 2019 interview with Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated in which the shortstop compared himself to Robinson.
"I kind of feel like today's Jackie Robinson," he said at the time. "That's huge to say. But it's cool, man, because he changed the game, and I feel like I'm getting to a point to where I need to change the game."
Judge made sure to point out that it wasn't the right thing to say even if Donaldson believed he was joking. He also referenced the recent history between the two players and teams.
Anderson and Donaldson exchanged words during a May 13 game:
Josh Donaldson and Tim Anderson exchange words after this play at third.
Donaldson did not play in Monday's game because he was placed on the COVID-19 list. Marwin Gonzalez started at third base in his place and went 0-for-4.
Yankees' Josh Donaldson Suspended for Making Racist Comment to Tim Anderson
May 23, 2022
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 21: Jose Abreu #79 holds back Tim Anderson #7 of the Chicago White Sox after a benches-clearing dispute between Yasmani Grandal #24 of the Chicago White Sox (not pictured) and Josh Donaldson #28 of the New York Yankees (not pictured) during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium on May 21, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson for one game Monday for racist comments he directed at Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.
Here is the official @MLB announcement regarding Josh Donaldson's one-game suspension and fine.
Of note, Donaldson was placed on the COVID-19 list Monday.
Following Saturday's matchup between the Yankees and White Sox—during which Donaldson had a heated discussion with catcher Yasmani Grandal that appeared to be in regards to Anderson—Anderson told reporters that Donaldson had called him "Jackie" during the game, a reference to Jackie Robinson:
Tim Anderson says Josh Donaldson made a "disrespectful comment" referring to him as "Jackie [Robinson]" and agreed with manager Tony La Russa that it was racist.
Donaldson claimed his intent was not racist and that he was referring to what Anderson told Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated in 2019, when the shortstop compared his unique style and passion for the game to the legendary Robinson:
As some pointed out on social media, however, even if Donaldson believed it was a joke between the two, it doesn't make his comments appropriate or inoffensive.
“I’ve said this in years past” doesn’t excuse Donaldson
Anyone who’s been the target of name calling has heard the same things over and over. Sometimes you respond, sometimes you don’t.
Donaldson doesn’t get to decide if it’s a joke today or yesterday
the context is tim was talking about racial issues within MLB and drawing inspiration from robinson. mocking him for it speaks for itself I think. https://t.co/G3CZz19Opspic.twitter.com/cJRSroEx3m
To all the people twisting themselves into pretzels to defend Josh Donaldson, stop and just listen. Your opinion of this doesn’t matter. I know that’s hard for you to hear but it’s true whether you believe it or not. Tim is telling you how HE took Donaldson’s words https://t.co/SZoUyJJBhx
Given Donaldson's suspension, Major League Baseball's stance on the situation was that the remarks were inappropriate and disrespectful.
Donaldson and Anderson had previously exchanged words this season after the former pushed the latter off third base during a close play at the bag May 13:
Josh Donaldson and Tim Anderson exchange words after this play at third.
Donaldson also has something of a history with the White Sox. Last season, while the 36-year-old was with the Minnesota Twins, he hit a homer off Lucas Giolito and said "hands not sticky anymore" while rubbing his hands together as he crossed home plate.
MLB had ramped up its efforts to investigate pitchers' use of foreign substances, and Donaldson said: "I didn't see any swings and misses on fastballs up yesterday where he normally gets swings and misses up there. ... That's where you get that hopping effect from the spin rate."
Giolito responded by calling Donaldson a "pest" and said his actions as he crossed home plate were "classless."
Donaldson said he confronted Giolito in the parking lot after the game to have a conversation with him.
Yankees' Josh Donaldson Placed on COVID-19 List Ahead of Orioles Series
May 23, 2022
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 22: Josh Donaldson #28 of the New York Yankees looks on prior to the game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Sunday, May 22, 2022 in New York, New York. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The New York Yankees are short-handed heading into a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles that starts Monday.
Manager Aaron Boone told reporters that third baseman Josh Donaldson was placed on the COVID-19 list ahead of Monday's contest. Donaldson played in Sunday's 3-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox and went 0-for-4.
Donaldson has been in recent headlines for a comment he made to White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson during New York's previous series.
Anderson was not pleased with Donaldson calling him "Jackie" in reference to Jackie Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier. White Sox manager Tony La Russa told reporters it was a "racist" comment, and Anderson agreed.
"He just made a disrespectful comment," Anderson said. "Basically he was trying to call me Jackie Robinson. 'What's up, Jackie?' I don't play like that. I don't really play at all. I wasn't really going to bother nobody today, but he made the comment and you know it was disrespectful and I don't think it was called for. It was unnecessary."
Donaldson said he has "joked around" with Anderson in the past about the shortstop's 2019 Sports Illustrated interview in which he said he felt like "today's Jackie Robinson" because he was "getting to a point where I need to change the game."
Major League Baseball announced the Yankees third baseman was suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount. He is appealing the punishment.
Donaldson has appeared in 37 games for New York this season and is slashing .238/.349/.415 with five home runs and 15 RBI. It is a far cry from his production in 2015 when he was the American League MVP on the Toronto Blue Jays with 41 home runs and 123 RBI.
The Yankees are 29-12 on the season and five games ahead of the Blue Jays for first place in the American League East.
Marwin Gonzalez is starting Monday's game at third base for the Bronx Bombers in place of Donaldson.
Yankees: Josh Donaldson Did Not Speak to Tim Anderson or MLB About Racist Comment
May 23, 2022
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - MAY 16: Josh Donaldson #28 of the New York Yankees runs against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 16, 2022 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
New York Yankees slugger Josh Donaldson has not spoken to Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson or Major League Baseball as of Sunday evening following a comment he made during a Saturday game, a Yankees spokesman told reporters.
Anderson told reporters Saturday that Donaldson called him "Jackie," a reference to Jackie Robinson that he took offense to. White Sox manager Tony La Russa also deemed it to be a racist remark made by Donaldson.
ESPN's Alden Gonzalez reported Saturday that MLB would be looking into the incident and "speaking to all relevant parties."
Donaldson said after Saturday's game that he called Anderson "Jackie," saying the two have joked about it in the past. He told reporters that he was joking about the White Sox star calling himself "today's Jackie Robinson" in 2019.
"My meaning of that is not any term trying to be racist by any fact of the matter,'' Donaldson said. "... Obviously, he deemed it disrespectful. And look, if he did, I apologize. That's not what I was trying to do by any manner and that's what happened.''
Anderson noted in his postgame comments that he thought Donaldson's comment was "disrespectful" and "unnecessary." He also agreed with White Sox manager Tony La Russa calling the remark racist.
"He just made a disrespectful comment," Anderson said. "Basically he was trying to call me Jackie Robinson. 'What's up, Jackie?' I don't play like that. I don't really play at all. I wasn't really going to bother nobody today, but he made the comment and you know it was disrespectful and I don't think it was called for. It was unnecessary."
Anderson went on to get his revenge against the Yankees in Sunday's 5-0 win. With the crowd taunting the 28-year-old by cheering "Jackie" while he was at the plate in the eighth inning, he proceeded to launch a 3-0 a homer to seal Chicago's victory.
Anderson is in the midst of an impressive season, hitting .359/.400/.517 with five home runs and 18 RBI in 35 games.
The White Sox moved to 21-20 with Sunday's win and sit second in the AL Central behind the Minnesota Twins.
Yankees' Joey Gallo, Kyle Higashioka Placed on COVID-19 List
May 22, 2022
KANSAS CITY, MO - APRIL 30: New York Yankees left fielder Joey Gallo (13) catches a fly ball for an out during a MLB game between the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals on April 30, 2022, at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO. (Photo by Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images),
The New York Yankees placed outfielder Joey Gallo and catcher Kyle Higashioka on the COVID-19 injured list Sunday, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
In corresponding roster moves, the Yankees recalled pitcher David McKay from Triple-A and signed catcher Rob Brantly to a major league contract before adding him to the 26-man roster.
The Yankees expected Gallo to be available for Sunday's doubleheader with the Chicago White Sox before he was placed on the COVID-19 injury list, with manager Aaron Boone telling reporters the left fielder was "under the weather" on Saturday.
Gallo, 28, has struggled since joining the Yankees last season in a blockbuster trade, hitting .166 with 18 homers, 29 RBI, 44 runs and a .679 OPS in 93 games across parts of two campaigns.
That has caused frustration among Yankees fans, though at this stage of his career, Gallo is resigned to his fate as a power hitter who strikes out a lot and routinely has a low batting average.
"This is what happens all the time when you're slumping," he told reporters last week. "I wish I was DJ LeMahieu. I don't get how he hits the ball so much. A lot of times, I wish I was a contact hitter, but I'm playing the hand that I was dealt."
Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton—who generally serves as the team's designated hitter—and Marwin Gonzalez are still available for the Yankees in the outfield.
Higashioka, 32, has split time with Jose Trevino at catcher this season, hitting .154 with five RBI, seven runs and a .419 OPS in 24 games. His defense has been more valuable than his bat.
Brantly, 32, is a lifetime .224 hitter in 133 career games across seven seasons with the Miami Marlins, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and the Yankees, adding seven homers and 37 RBI. He'll serve as Trevino's backup.
