New York Yankees

TD Bank Ballpark, the home stadium of the Somerset Patriots in Bridgewater, New Jersey, was flooded Wednesday night when the remnants of Hurricane Ida moved through the northeast.

NJ.com provided aerial footage of how the park looked Thursday morning:

TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater was underwater following heavy rainfall from Hurricane Ida remnants. The park is home to the minor league baseball Somerset Patriots. pic.twitter.com/gKaRLfcNeB

— njdotcom (@njdotcom) September 2, 2021

The Patriots are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.

CNN's Madeline Holcombe and Jason Hanna reported at least 11 people were killed in New York, New Jersey and Maryland because of the storm, which caused widespread flooding.

Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana on Sunday. While it lost the hurricane distinction because the wind speeds dropped as it traveled across land from the Gulf of Mexico toward the northeast, it still dropped devastating rainfall totals.

Many areas in the New York, New Jersey and the surrounding states were already waterlogged after Hurricane Henri made landfall in the region on Aug. 22.

The Patriots are currently playing a six-game road series against the Bowie Baysox in Maryland that runs through Sunday. Wednesday's game was postponed because of the heavy rain.

Somerset is scheduled to return home to TD Bank Ballpark for its final homestand of the minor league regular season beginning Tuesday against the Hartford Yard Goats.

The Patriots (60-42) lead the Double-A Northeast Division with a 3.5-game lead over the Portland Sea Dogs heading into the stretch run of the campaign.

It's amazing what a monthlong hot streak and a sweep of an intra-division rival will do for a team's season, much less its reputation as a contender for Major League Baseball's grand prize.

It was around this time last month that the New York Yankees were barely a contender of any kind. Following a loss to the Boston Red Sox to open the second half of the season on July 16, they were just two games over .500 at 46-44.

The Yankees' deficit in the American League East? A whopping nine games.

Their chances of making the playoffs in any capacity? Just 24.3 percent, according to FanGraphs.

Well, now the Yankees are 22-9 in their past 31 games following a three-game sweep of (who else?) the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. Capped by newcomer Andrew Heaney's seven excellent innings in Tuesday's 5-2 win, New York's pitchers led the way by permitting Boston just five runs on 17 hits in the three games.

Hean, mean, pitching machine. pic.twitter.com/BWFG4wnvCR

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 19, 2021

What was a nine-game disadvantage to the Red Sox is now a mere five-game deficit to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees have also boosted their playoff chances to 78.9 percent, though there's a strong argument this figure underestimates said chances.

The Yankees are, after all, currently in possession of one of the AL's two wild-card spots.

Since they clearly are, the big question now isn't so much whether the Yankees are a contender again. Rather, it's whether they've played their way back into a distinction that they had at the start of the season before they gradually played their way out of it.

Are they World Series contenders again?

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The Case for Selling the Yankees as a World Series Threat

Simply from looking at how they've dominated in the win column, it feels like the Yankees' hot stretch should be a story of them finally becoming the team they were supposed to be.

As in, one that thrives on the strength of an overpowering offense and bullpen, as well as on a just-good-enough starting rotation captained by the ever-unhittable Gerrit Cole.

Weirdly, this isn't actually the case.

Whereas the Yankees had one of baseball's mightiest offenses—e.g., they tied for second with a 116 wRC+ while also blasting 306 home runs—as recently as 2019, this season is still on track to be a second successive disappointing offensive performance by the Bronx Bombers.

They're only 11th with a 101 wRC+ and are likewise outside the top 10 with their 149 home runs. And while they've been better of late, they've still fallen short of greatness in posting a 109 wRC+ with a modest 35 home runs since July 17.

There's no one reason the Yankees aren't an offensive juggernaut. It's a mix of things, ranging from Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and especially Gleyber Torres (who is currently on the injured list with a thumb sprain) not being as powerful as the Yankees expected, and newcomer Joey Gallo not being the spark he was meant to be.

Sure, Gallo has hit four home runs since coming over from the Texas Rangers on July 29. Yet he has just 11 hits in 71 at-bats, with about half of those (35) ending by way of the K.

Though generally solid for its part, the Yankees bullpen notably does not feature vintage versions of fireballer Aroldis Chapman and sinkerballer Zack Britton. The two of them have nine All-Star nods between them, but this year their combined performance is marked by a 4.34 ERA over 56 innings.

Cole, meanwhile, has not-so-coincidentally been a different pitcher since MLB got serious about policing sticky stuff in June:

• First 11 GS: 70.2 IP, 50 H, 9 BB, 97 K, 1.78 ERA
• Next 11 GS: 65.1 IP, 53 H, 20 BB, 88 K, 4.41 ERA

How, then, to explain the Yankees' apparent inability to lose games over the past month? 

To give credit where it's due, a veritable village of pitchers has contributed to a collective 3.18 ERA. The offensive handiwork, though, has largely consisted of the Yankees hitting in the clutch in a way that they simply weren't before. For instance, they've gone from a .228 average after the seventh inning to a .252 average in those situations.

All of this paints a general picture of a team that isn't actually clicking on all cylinders. The Yankees are more like a team that's clicking on unexpected cylinders at an unexpected time.

The bottom line? Even though their chances of making it to their first World Series since 2009 have improved from 3.9 to 16.0 percent since July 17, the Yankees are still nowhere close to the 31.7 percent chance they had way back on Opening Day.

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The Case for Buying the Yankees as a World Series Threat

Then again, just because the Yankees aren't winning games in ways they were expected to doesn't mean they're not good. Or without the potential to get even better, for that matter.

Even if they aren't the dynamic slugging tandem the Yankees hoped when they first put them together back in 2017, Judge and Stanton have actually been feeling it with wRC+s of 120 and 142, respectively, since July 17. The Yankees are also finally seeing signs of life from DJ LeMahieu, who has hit .344 over his past 15 games.

That trio alone makes for a solid offensive backbone. Anthony Rizzo, another trade-deadline newcomer, has already shown he can be yet another solid presence by going 10-for-33 with eight runs batted in on either side of a stint on the COVID-19 injured list.

If Gallo starts living up to the 140 wRC+ and 25 homers he had in Texas, that would make it a fearsome fivesome. If Torres can return and recapture the form that had him hitting .293 between July 7 and August 8, make it a...scintillating sixsome? Something like that.

Pitching-wise, there's obviously no way to frame what's going on with Cole, Chapman and Britton as a good thing for the Yankees. But as the season has gone along, the extent to which the Bombers figured to rely on those three has definitely diminished.

Jameson Taillon, for example, has quietly been tallying ace-like results with a 1.68 ERA over his past eight starts. So has Jordan Montgomery, who's allowed more than three earned runs exactly once over his last 14 outings.

Then there's 23-year-old sensation Luis Gil. All he's done in his first three major league starts is not allow any runs, which is a first in major league history. He's done it with gas, and not a small amount of style:

Luis Gil, Elevated 98mph ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/9jiTMhECbw

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 17, 2021

Speaking of gas, one bit of bad news on the injury front is that Luis Severino has run into yet another complication on his long road back from Tommy John surgery.

Fellow right-hander Corey Kluber, though, is on track to return from a shoulder strain sometime in September. He had put up a 3.04 ERA in his first 10 starts in pinstripes, including a no-hitter on May 19.

Between Cole, Taillon, Heaney, Montgomery and Kluber, the Yankees soon won't even have room in their rotation for Gil. But it's not hard to see him fitting in with the club's bullpen, which has already circled back to being one of baseball's best since July 17. That's largely owed to Jonathan Loaisiga and Chad Green, who rank first and sixth among American League relievers in wins above replacement.

The bottom line is that the Yankees are genuinely good right now, yet perhaps still short of reaching their peak. They'll have the goods to overwhelm the opposition with both bats and arms if they can get there, which means they'd pretty well match the description of a team that could do damage in October.

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The Verdict

Per FanGraphs' odds, the pecking order of favorites for the American League pennant starts with the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox. Then there's a fair deal of space, and then everyone else.

That's fair.

The Astros are the best offensive team in baseball, and they also have one of the league's best rotations. For their part, the White Sox are frankly silly with pitching, and they suddenly look that much more dangerous offensively now that Eloy Jimenez and Luis Robert are back from long stints on the injured list.

But now for a fun fact: the Yankees have played 12 games against these two teams and won nine of them.

Factoring in that they're also 2-1 against the Oakland Athletics and a respectable 7-9 against the Rays, the Red Sox are the only leading AL contender that's truly gotten the better of the Yankees by winning 10 out of 16 games against them. But that balance has certainly shifted recently, as the Yankees have won two of their past three series against Boston.

In so many words, not one of the teams that the Yankees could come up against in October is obviously superior to them. That seems unbelievable considering it took the Yankees more than half the season to get right, but...well, there it is.

There's still a lot of season left, and the catch with October baseball is that it's about as easy to predict as some kind of celestial knuckleball. But even if their transformation is both late and unexpected, you'd better believe the Yankees are back in the World Series hunt.

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Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.

New York Yankees first baseman Luke Voit said Tuesday he doesn't want to get relegated to a bench role when Anthony Rizzo is activated from the COVID-19 injured list.

"I was top-10 MVP [voting] last year and I've been a great player for this organization for the last three years," Voit told reporters. "I'm not going down. I want to play. Obviously, I know it will be tough with Rizzo, but I deserve to play just as much as he does. I led the league in home runs last year. I feel really good again."

"I was Top 10 in MVP last year... I want to play. I know it's gonna be tough with Rizzo. I deserve to play just as much as he does. I led the league in home runs last year." -Luke Voit pic.twitter.com/sN7QgouxHW

— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) August 18, 2021

Rizzo, whom the Yankees acquired in a July trade with the Chicago Cubs, landed on the COVID-19 injured list on Aug. 7. Voit returned from a stint on the standard injured list on Aug. 8 after recovering from knee inflammation, which had so far prevented any playing-time conflicts.

Voit has posted a .804 OPS with three home runs in 10 games since being activated from the IL. He went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBI in the Yanks' doubleheader sweep of the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, which moved New York into a wild-card position in the American League.

Here's a look at how the first basemen's numbers stack up so far in 2021:

• Voit: .241/.325/.400, 6 HR, 20 RBI in 39 games

• Rizzo: .251/.351/.456, 17 HR, 46 RBI in 101 games

It's unclear whether the Yankees will consider a straight platoon since both Voit (.872) and Rizzo (.878) have a higher career OPS against right-handed pitching, though Voit holds a sizable edge (.857-.789) against lefties, which could lead to more starts in those situations.

New York manager Aaron Boone wouldn't tip his hand after Tuesday's wins, telling reporters the Yanks will handle the situation "day by day" once Rizzo returns.

The 32-year-old Florida native, who made three All-Star appearances while with the Cubs, moved closer to activation Tuesday when he did infield work and took batting practice. The infielder said he was "knocked out for a solid six, seven days" with COVID-19 and was "grateful" his situation didn't get worse.

New York likely won't have much margin for error down the stretch. It remains five games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East race, and it's in a virtual three-way tie with Boston and the Oakland Athletics for the two wild-card spots, with the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners each four games back and still a threat in that race.

The Yankees may have to ride the hot hand at first base during the stretch run. It would be difficult to jettison Voit to the bench given how well he's been hitting since his return to the lineup.

The Yanks face the Red Sox in another critical game Wednesday night before hosting the Minnesota Twins for a four-game set beginning Thursday. They also face the A's four times during an upcoming nine-game road trip.

The New York Yankees ended Clint Frazier's rehab assignment on Monday and put him on the 60-day injured list, per Brendan Kuty of NJ.com. He had originally been put on the injured list on July 2 after experiencing dizziness. 

In the aftermath of that decision, manager Aaron Boone was asked if Frazier would be able to play in the future. 

"We'll see. He's been through a lot, seeing a lot of people and a lot of testing. So we'll just try to continue to follow and support him where we can," he told reporters. "As of right now, he's in a little bit of a holding pattern."

Frazier pulled himself ahead of a Sunday rehab game for Double-A Somerset. It would have been his third rehab game. 

Clint Frazier pulled himself from last night’s game, knowing he was not feeling right. Aaron Boone said that he is glad Frazier had the “courage” to do so.

— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) August 16, 2021

The source of Frazier's dizziness remains unknown.

Per Kuty, the team "eventually ruled out vertigo as the cause of Frazier's issues, and they said doctors didn't believe they were connected to the concussion he suffered in 2018. Frazier flew to Michigan to do neurological testing and Boone said he believed Frazier might have changed his contact lenses and that he'd been given neck exercises to continue."

Frazier, 26, hit .186 with five homers and 15 RBI in 66 games for the Yankees this season.

He would have returned to a backup role, with newly acquired slugger Joey Gallo and Giancarlo Stanton available in left field, Aaron Judge holding down right field and Brett Gardner currently playing well in center.

At this point, Frazier's season is more than likely finished. Beyond that remains unclear. 

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is scheduled to return to action Monday against the Los Angeles Angels.

According to MLB.com's Bryan Hoch, Cole will start Monday's contest, which is a makeup game at Yankee Stadium after a previously scheduled game between the Yanks and Angels was rained out in July.

Cole, who has not made a start since July 29, was placed on the COVID-19 list along with fellow starter Jordan Montgomery.

Per Hoch, Cole is feeling good ahead of his return to the mound, as the four-time All-Star joked: "I threw a no-hitter in the bullpen. I'm ready to go."

Prior to landing on the COVID-19 IL, Cole was unquestionably the Yankees' go-to pitcher this season. In 21 starts, Cole has posted a 10-6 record with a 3.11 ERA and American League-best 0.99 WHIP.

Cole also leads the AL with 176 strikeouts in 130.1 innings after finishing with the most K's in the majors in 2019 with 326 when he was a member of the Houston Astros.

With starters Corey Kluber, Domingo German and Luis Severino already on the IL when Cole and Montgomery joined them, Yankees manager Aaron Boone has leaned heavily on his bullpen over the past couple of weeks.

That has seemingly taken a toll on New York's relievers, as the Yanks have blown ninth-inning leads in each of their past two games against the Chicago White Sox, although they did manage to win in extra innings Saturday.

Cole's return will be a welcome sight for Boone, as the 30-year-old righty averages over six innings per start this season.

The Yankees are also set to get Montgomery back in the fold this week, as Hoch reported that the big lefty will likely start one half of the doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

Despite having to get by with a makeshift starting rotation in recent weeks, the Yankees are firmly in the playoff race.

Entering play Sunday, the Yanks are 6.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL East lead, but they trail the Red Sox by only 2.5 games for the second wild-card spot.

New York has already strengthened its lineup with the trade-deadline additions of Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo, but the return of Cole may be the biggest key to the Bronx Bombers securing a postseason berth.

New York Yankees left-handed relief pitcher Zack Britton told reporters Saturday that he asked manager Aaron Boone to remove him from the closer role.

"I told him I don't deserve to be out there in the ninth inning; other guys deserve it," Britton said, per ESPN's Marly Rivera.

"I haven't been pitching the way I should be to be out there when the team needs wins. I told [Boone] I want to pitch, whenever you need me I'll be ready, but I don't deserve to be out there in those situations."

As Rivera noted, Britton is 1-of-4 on save opportunities with an 8.10 ERA in those situations. He has a 6.32 ERA in 18 appearances overall alongside a 1.66 WHIP.

"Physically [I am] not where I normally am at this stage of the season. But I have to find a way to get outs with where I'm at physically right now because it's just where I'm at," Britton said, per Rivera.

"Just need to figure out how in the future I can get back to the top level of pitching that I want to be at."

The southpaw notably blew a save chance against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, allowing a game-winning two-run home run to shortstop Tim Anderson in a 9-8 defeat.

During the offseason, Britton underwent left elbow surgery and contracted COVID-19, which led to a big weight loss, per Rivera. Still, the left-hander isn't using that as an excuse.

I have to figure out a way to pitch with where I'm at. You've got to get outs, regardless of how you're feeling, velocity being down. I've been around long enough to know that it's not always about the best stuff, the most velocity, to get outs. It's about executing pitches. And I'm not doing a good job of that right now. And I'm capable of doing it.

Britton has been inserted into save situations after regular closer Aroldis Chapman went on the 10-day injured list with left elbow inflammation retroactive to Aug. 6.

As for who will close games, Boone said that he will look toward Jonathan Loaisiga and Chad Green until Chapman can return to the team.

Major League Baseball pulled it off. 

Building a baseball field in Iowa was the easy part, of course. Capturing the essence of the movie Field of Dreams—making something that arrived in theaters 30 years ago feel as fresh as ever—was a lot tougher.

Then the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees followed actor Kevin Costner out of the corn fields and proved MLB was ready to exceed all expectations. 

Absolute chills. #MLBatFieldofDreams pic.twitter.com/JsejH3OsWI

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 12, 2021

Removing part of the outfield wall so the White Sox and Yankees walk through the corn fields side-by-side was not only the correct decision, but it was also executed rather flawlessly as the score from the film played over the speakers. 

Before the first pitch, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the Field of Dreams game will return in 2022. How the league tops this year's edition remains to be seen. 

It was late July and the New York Yankees were immersed in their worst emergency in years.

They'd just lost to the Boston Red Sox for the 10th time in 13 games, nine games out in the AL East, barely over .500 and had committed the worst-possible sin for a legacy franchise: they'd become irrelevant.

Manager Aaron Boone openly second-guessed his own decisions in a crushing 5-4 loss to Boston, during which the Sox scored five runs in the bottom of the eighth. The Fenway crowd cranked up its time-honored "Yankees suck" chant, but it was more of a joke than a declaration of war against a blood rival. The Bombers really were terrible.

The trade deadline was right around the corner. There were increasing calls on social media for GM Brian Cashman to recognize the hopelessness of the situation, pull up stakes and start over in 2022.

To the industry, it meant selling off the Yankees' best assets and initiate a rebuild. On the street, it meant an outright cave.

Cashman's response? Feverishly working the phones and saving the season.

"It's up to me to do everything I can to fix it, Cashman said on July 31. "We'll see how it plays out."

One person familiar with Cashman's thinking said the GM never wavered. "There was no way Brian was ever intending to give up," he said. "That's not him."

It would've been too steep a drop for a team Vegas oddsmakers considered a World Series lock in spring training. Cashman did more than simply soldier on, however: he went scorched earth on the roster, acquiring five players in five days, including Anthony Rizzo and Joey Gallo. That sparked a turnaround that alerted the American League to the possibilities of a busy October in the Bronx.

Instead of the crash skeptics were predicting, the Yankees are now the hottest team in the majors. They've taken nine of their past 10 series. And while winning the East might still be a bridge too far—the Rays are now the division's power brokers, having blown past the slumping Sox—the Yankees are only 1.5 games out of the wild card. The postseason is very much on their minds.

"I think the focus of the guys is very aware of where we are in the season and the importance of this [hot streak]," Boone said via zoom this week. "I love the mindset; we're finding ways to win ballgames."

That's no small achievement, considering the Yankees looked so sluggish and un-athletic for the first four months. No AL offense was less efficient scoring a runner from first base. The situational hitting was just as brutal as the Yankees were among the worst at bringing a runner home from third with less than two out barely 40 percent of the time. They also lead the AL in runners left on base.

But that was the before The Great Makeover.

Led by Rizzo, the Yankees won five of their first six games after the deadline. True, it helped to have two last-place teams lined up to help the newcomers assimilate. The Miami Marlins and Baltimore Orioles, a combined 44 games under .500 at the time, were exactly what the Bombers needed. They took off on a sprint and have yet to slow down.

One American League official I spoke to said he's, "more than a little concerned" the Yankees are about to go to the after-burners. They're winning despite a flurry of injuries and COVID-19 cases. No less than 12 players have been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list; five in the past month alone. Among those currently recovering are their two best starters (Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery), their recent sparkplug (Rizzo) and their front-line catcher (Gary Sanchez).

Add in Gleyber Torres (thumb), Aroldis Chapman (elbow) and Domingo German (shoulder), and Boone should've been overseeing an outright collapse. The alibi was ready and waiting. Instead, the Yankees have proven Boone right: with 31 come-from-behind victories, few teams in the majors are as dangerous late in the game. And that can-do attitude looms as the Bombers' best weapon in the postseason, especially with the imminent returns of the COVID-19 cases and starters Luis Severino and Corey Kluber.

The two hurlers, both recovering from arm injuries, could be back at the front of the rotation before September. That would give the Yankees a fearsome three-pronged weapon in any short series in the postseason. No wonder there's optimism up and down the franchise. DJ LeMahieu spoke for the rest of his teammates when he said, "it's been a little while since we've had that kind of confidence."

Two important challenges are looming, though. The Yankees will face the Central Division-leading Chicago White Sox over the weekend, followed by a two-day, three-game set with the Red Sox early next week. The wild-card race will come into even sharper focus at the end of the month when the Yankees travel to Oakland for a four-game series. The A's are clinging to a slim lead for the second wild-card spot.

And then there's the possibility the coronavirus will continue to impact the Yankees roster.

"We don't know why it keeps happening," reliever Zack Britton said. "We're over 90 percent vaccinated [as a traveling group]. We did everything we felt we needed to do to protect ourselves."

Regarding the vaccines the majority of the Yankees received, Britton said, "We knew it didn't mean you can't get COVID, but it lessens the symptoms—which it has in some cases and hasn't in others. Guys are still getting severe symptoms like they never got the vaccine."

Still, the Yankees are hoping the worst will be over before the playoffs. The plan is to be at full strength by October. If all goes well, the franchise can thank Cashman, who not only laughed at July's doomsday scenario, but he also just might turn out to be the Yankees' MVP in 2021.

     

Follow Bob Klapisch on Twitter.

New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo has tested positive for COVID-19, manager Aaron Boone told reporters Sunday.

Boone said Rizzo is symptomatic. Pitchers Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery and catcher Gary Sanchez also recently tested positive.

Rizzo revealed in June that he is choosing to not undergo vaccination for COVID-19 because he wants to "see the data in all of it."

"This is bigger than baseball. This is a life decision," Rizzo said at the time. "It weighed hard. It's a decision I made and I stand with, and obviously there are people that are going to hate me and think I'm disgusting. And there are going to be people that side with me, but it's out in the open."

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, according to the FDA and many other major medical organizations worldwide. While there has been an increase in cases among vaccinated individuals due to the Delta variant, the FDA has said the "three FDA-authorized vaccines prevent COVID-19 and serious health outcomes that COVID-19 can cause, including hospitalization and deaths." United States health officials have said the majority of hospitalizations and deaths due to the virus are among the unvaccinated, per CNN.

More than 614,000 people have died in the United States due to COVID-19.

Rizzo will miss at least the next 10 days and will have to pass MLB protocol in order to be activated from the COVID list.

The Yankees activated Luke Voit from the injured list to replace Rizzo, who was acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline. Rizzo has hit three home runs and scored eight runs in his first nine games with the Yankees. 

The New York Yankees were in pursuit of shortstop Javier Baez on trade deadline day before the New York Mets eventually acquired the two-time All-Star from the Chicago Cubs.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and The Athletic provided the report during FS1's Mets at Philadelphia Phillies broadcast on Saturday, noting injuries to Yankees infielders Gio Urshela and DJ LeMahieu as reasons why New York pursued Baez.

As I said on @FS1, Yankees were in mix for Báez on deadline day, separate from pursuit of Rizzo, whom they had acquired day before. At time, Yankees were worried about Urshela, who later went on IL with left hamstring strain, and LeMaheiu, who was nursing minor triceps strain.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 7, 2021

The Yankees were still active at the deadline despite missing out on Baez, notably picking up Texas Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo and Baez's ex-Cubs teammate, first baseman Anthony Rizzo.

Despite missing out on Baez, the Yanks have made it work with an infield of third baseman Rougned Odor, shortstop Gleyber Torres, LeMahieu at second and Rizzo at first with Urshela, the usual starter at the hot corner, on the injured list. New York has done very well for itself of late, going 20-8 in its last 28 games and 8-1 since the deadline.

As for Baez, he entered Saturday with 24 home runs, 68 RBI and a .760 OPS. The slick fielder hit a home run in both of the Mets' post-deadline wins since New York acquired him as part of the Cubs' fire sale.

The Mets have struggled of late, however, going 2-5 and falling behind the Phillies for first in the National League East following Philadelphia's 4-2 win over New York on Friday.